


Baccate

by DarkInuFan



Category: Bleach
Genre: Animal Transformation, Demonic Possession, Kurosaki Family, Masaki's 'alive', NaNoWriMo, Post-Anime, Tatsuki kicks ass, Worldbuilding, Yuzu can be BAMF when she wants too, guest characters - Freeform, kurosaki-Taicho, manga compliant until before the quincy stuff starts going down, seriously, though there will be nods to recent chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-04-29 17:50:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 94,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5137064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkInuFan/pseuds/DarkInuFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Means 'berry-like or bearing berries'. After 17 months, Ichigo has a second chance to be a shinigami. But just not a normal Shinigami, but a Taicho. He has quite a few things that he needs to learn and a big haori to fill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Taicho

**Author's Note:**

> I started this back in... 2012/13(?) and during one of the moves I had, lost my notebook containing probably at least the first 8 chapters. I'm happy that I had up to about half of chapter 5 written before that happened, but still...  
> So, I lost motivation and put this story off to the side. Since it's NaNoWriMo, I decided to dust off this old thing and see if I can make it bigger, better than it would have been three years ago. I'll warn you now: since this is NaNo, there will be minimal editing that I will (hopefully) get back to fixing... after.

He needed to be alone. Just, away from everything else. Away from School. From work. From friends. And especially away from family. At the moment, he didn’t particularly know where he was, nor did he really particularly care. All he knew was that he was somewhere on the outskirts of Seireitei with a field of grass that stretched at least two kilometers in each direction. He sat at the base of the only tree within sight and tuned his guitar, closing his eyes and blocking out everything but the notes resonating from the strings. Settling for a simple tune, his fingers started moving on their own as he lost himself in still-fresh memories.

After Ginjou and getting his powers back, Ichigo had no clue what would happen next. Over the past seventeen months, he had almost resigned himself to a dull human existence, at least while he was alive. It’s not as if he entertained fantasies of regaining his powers once his body gave out. Especially when he saw his nakama excuse themselves for the restroom or nurse’s office. When he learned Fullbring, it brought new hope, a renewed flame to the glowing embers in his soul. He would not be helpless. He would not be forced to the sidelines any longer. And when he was given the spark to fully ignite his shinigami powers again, it felt as if the last seventeen months were a dream.

“Hello.” Ichigo greeted to empty air, not bothering to look up.

“You’ve improved, Ichigo-kun.” A voice replied, allowing his stealth to drop as he sat down beside the young prodigy. “I didn’t know you played anything.”

Ichigo shook his head. “Chad taught me a little before… everything happened, and during the war I didn’t have any time to practice.” As he spoke, his fingers picked up a more Spanish note. “I’ve had a lot of practice lately Ukitake-taichou.”

The white-haired captain nodded, picking at the large basket he had set down. “I would expect so. Do you mind if we join you? It’s such a lovely day out that Shunsui, Yamamoto-sensei and I thought we would enjoy the fresh air for a few hours, and possibly the sunset as well.” Ichigo blinked, unsure.

“If this is your spot, I can leave.” Ichigo stopped playing and pulled his case closer. “I just came out here because it was quiet.”

Ukitake smiled and put his hand on the closed lid, forestalling his movements, “Please, Ichigo-kun, stay. It would be nice to listen to you play for a bit longer. And I brought enough for everyone since Retsu-chan can’t make it.

Sighing, Ichigo settled back down and started plucking once again, “Yuzu is going to be upset that I’m skipping dinner again.”

“Yuzu is a lovely name, is she your girlfriend?” At that, Ichigo started choking on air and hit a sour note.

“No!” He shook his head, trying not to laugh. “She’s my little sister.”

“Ah, she cooks?” Ichigo nodded, absently playing a lullaby. “Where is your mother? Why doesn’t she cook?”

“Grand Fisher. I was nine.” Ichigo shrugged, frowning. “Hopefully she’s out there or reincarnated by now.” He gestured vaguely to Seireitei’s outer walls.

“Ah. I’m sor-“

“Please don’t. Grand Fisher is dead. That’s all that there is about that.” Ukitake nodded, dropping the subject. Looking around, he spotted his friend and sensei.

“Ah, good, we can get started. Ichigo-kun, would you help me spread the blanket?”

Ichigo blinked at Ukitake’s sudden chirpy tone. “Oh. Ah, sure.” Moving his guitar to lie next to Zangetsu by the tree, Ichigo unfolded the blanket as Ukitake smoothed out the corners and started setting out dishes. As the other two arrived, Ichigo stepped back, hoping to be able to just sneak away.

After the trio greeted each other, Ukitake turned to Ichigo and patted the empty corner of the blanket. “It ok Ichigo-kun, Yamamoto-sensei won’t bite.” Ichigo managed a small smile as Yamamoto watched the child step closer, setting a peculiar instrument behind him. Strange that the boy that had turned his thirteen court squads on its ear and faced down the ‘lost captains’ without blinking was acting, dare he say, nervous. Silently, Yamamoto raised an eyebrow.

“Having problems, boy?” The old man asked, taking a saké saucer from his older student with a nod.

“N-no, Sou-taichou.” Ichigo almost-mumbled, not able to make eye contact with the ancient man.

“Hmm…what is it you youngsters call me? Yama-jii? If you wish, at this time, the name is acceptable. In the barracks address me properly, but here you may say as you wish.” The boy blushed, and Yamamoto gave a grandfatherly pat to his head.

“Yes Sou… Yama-jii.” Ichigo gave a wry smirk and relaxed a little.

“If you wish, Ichigo-kun, you can continue your practice. You were playing beautifully earlier.” Ukitake smiled, as Shunsui offered Ichigo a saucer of saké as well.

“Ah, thanks, but I’m not old enough to drink.” Ichigo shook his head, pulling his guitar around into his lap.

“Nonsense, Ichigo-kun. If you’re old enough to slay hollows, you’re old enough to drink. Even Toushirou-kun indulges in a cup once in a while.” Sighing, Ichigo took the saucer and placed it by his knee, not thoroughly convinced. If Kyouraku-san was using Toushirou as an example, Rangiku-san likely drove the kid to it.

Strumming a few chords, Ichigo listened as the older men spoke of miscellaneous things, ranging from their lieutenants to the upcoming visit to the academy. “Ichigo-kun, how are you doing? I heard you were still in school?” Ukitake turned, drawing the boy into the conversation;

Surprised to be asked, Ichigo paused in his playing before responding. “I’m in my last year of high school.”

“And then what?” Kyouraku-san asked, taking a sip of his saké, “Any plans for after you finish?”

“I… don’t know. I was planning on moving out and going to college for something, but I don’t know any more.”

“How about the Shinigami Academy then? If you don’t know what you would want to do in the human world yet, you can do some classes at the academy until you figure it out.”

Ichigo nodded, not really convinced. “I don’t really know what I would learn that I haven’t learned already.”

“The last report I recall spoke of no indication of using Kido.” Yama-jii spoke up and Ichigo winced.

“They tried teaching me.” Sighing in frustration, he strummed a few chords, “I’ve never seen two grown men cry before, let alone Hachi-san and Tessai-san. After a while we pretty much gave up.”

Ukitake raised a surprised eyebrow and Kyouraku gave a surprised chuckle. “I guess even prodigies have their road blocks.”

“Prodigy? I learned what I had to. I’m not that smart.”

“Slaying a hollow within seconds of gaining your powers where most have had at least six years of academy. Bankai in three days where one hundred years is expedient. And your… Fullbring, is it? In mere weeks as well.” Yamamoto listed off. “Shunpo is more than proficient; Zanjutsu is within a reasonable level; Hakuda, leadership skills. And on top of everything else, you have won a war while maintaining your grades.” Yamamoto listed off, carefully watching the boy’s reaction. “All wonderful qualities to look for in a leadership position in the Gotei thirteen. Kido, politics and Seireitei history would also be preferred, but as we know, those can be negotiable.” Yamamoto turned away to partake in his meal, hiding his knowing look from the paling boy.

Ukitake took pity on the boy and smiled gently. “I remember now where I have seen your instrument before. I believe Lieutenant Hisagi-kun brought one back a number of years ago. If you and he have the time, you would likely find you both have quite a bit in common. What is the name of the piece you were just playing?”

Ichigo blushed, “Chad wrote it, you’d have to ask him. I think it’s something like ‘Del Toro‘ or ‘El Toro de…’ something. It’s about this bull that wants to be like a butterfly he’s seen.” Ichigo shrugged and kept playing, humming quietly a secondary part.

“Does anyone else in your family play?”

Ichigo shook his head, “Dad couldn’t sit still long enough to learn, Karin would rather be outside playing Football and Yuzu has a pretty voice, but she’s too shy to sing in front of anyone.” He paused for a moment to change songs. “I once caught her singing while she was making breakfast. She didn’t talk to me for a week after.”

“Ah, young pride. Such a fragile thing. Were you teasing her about it?”

“NO,” Ichigo gave a wide-eyed stare, “I didn’t say anythi-Ow! _Damnit_.” Ichigo muttered, pulling his finger back. One of the strings on the guitar broke. With one hand, Ichigo pulled his case over and opened a small pouch on the side, retrieving a small plastic baggie while the other, injured, hand went to his mouth to absently soothe the sting. Inside the baggie were several smaller baggies with coils of wires in different thicknesses. Sorting through the labeled baggies, Ichigo growled at himself and picked up the one empty baggie in the batch, labeled with the string that he needed. “I need to ask Chad what brand he uses. His never seem to break.” He muttered to himself, inspecting the broken ends before deftly pulling them off, tossing the broken string into the case. Grumbling about incomplete chords, Ichigo strummed the remaining wires, not liking the sound it produced. It would do, but the chord was unbalanced. Muttering a short phrase under his breath, Ichigo hoped that the elder Taicho wouldn’t notice as he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, producing a fine thread of energy, of which he then strung into the bridge. He ran his fingers end to end several more times until he was satisfied with the thickness before lacing it into the tuner. All this took a matter of moments.

“All I asked was if she wanted help with breakfast.” Ichigo shrugged, tuning the energy string like he would the metal wire it looked like.

“Fascinating.” Shunsui murmured.

“Not really. I can cook when I have to, like when Yuzu is over at a friend’s house or mad at me.” Ichigo replied, not looking up. If he would have, he would have seen the three captain’s exchange impressed looks.

“I amend what I said about Kido,” Yamamoto commented, more curious than impressed. It had been a long time since he had last seen a student master the parody of a difficult bakudo with such finesse before learning the basics.

“What?!” Ichigo blinked, then shook his head, “No, it’s closer to Fullbring… I think. Just ask Rukia, I can’t do traditional kido.”

“From what I know, you’ve never been ‘one to follow tradition’.” Kyouraku smirked, sipping from his saucer.

“The young are to learn from tradition and their elders to find their own future.” Yamamoto spoke up, picking up a morsel. “Some of our young ones have yet to learn that traditions can change.”

“Like Byakuya-kun. He lives like he is far older than he really is.” Kyouraku turned back to Ichigo with an ironic smile. “Speaking of tradition, the usual question is ‘can you perform Bankai,’ but I believe the more prudent question here is, ‘can you actually seal your sword.’ It is a bit unwieldy to carry around so casually, is it not?”

“Ah…” Ichigo blinked and turned to where Zangetsu leaned against the tree. “It’s always been his decision.”

_All you needed was to ask, Ichigo_ , Zangetsu spoke into his mind, _although after all this time, a little incentive would not be unwelcome._

“Like wha-oh.” He felt his Zanpakutou’s non-substantial eyes fall on the saucer of saké by his knee. Holding the dish out to his Zanpakutou, Ichigo sighed. “If you become a drunkard, I know who to blame.” He shot a sideways look at Kyouraku as his sword transformed into an older man in a tattered black coat.

“Thank you, Ichigo.” Zangetsu bobbed his head and removed his sunglasses. Handing them to the boy, he took the offered saucer and savored a sip. “I had heard wonderful things about your saké, Shunsui-Taicho, and I am pleased to say that Senbonzakura-san was not exaggerating.

“Thank you, Zangetsu-dono. I’m glad to hear that I meet your expectations.” Kyouraku grinned, gladly topping off Zangetsu’s saucer.

Looking over, Zangetsu couldn’t help the fond expression that settled on his face. Ichigo was casually inspecting the sunglasses, taking in the simple design of the accessory with a mixture of curiosity and peeve. “You never needed to physically carry me around, Ichigo. Like your mask, you can summon me and I would be there.” Zangetsu smirked as the boy held up the glasses to look though the lenses, determining them more fashion than function. “But a little physical reminder never hurt.”

Ichigo gave his Zanpakutou a look. “Great, now I look like I’m part of that men’s club.

“Your school counselor said that you needed to join a club anyway, did he not? That would be the perfect opportunity.” Settling into his normal scowl, Ichigo perched the glasses on top of his head, where they were half-hidden by the forest of orange spikes.

“I _preferred_ the going-home club.” Ichigo grumbled, striking up a new tune on the guitar. “That counselor was an idiot anyway, saying that I was faking my job and wouldn’t get anywhere in life until I had my hair grow out into a more _natural_ color. The guy threatened to help me by shaving it off!” Ichigo growled, pulling at one of his forelocks in the process.

Kyouraku sputtered into his drink, trying to stifle his laugh. “So that really is your natural color, eh?”

Ichigo gave the man a tired look. “Yachiru’s hair is naturally pink, Toushirou and Ukitake-san’s is white, Nel and Grimmjow’s were green and blue respectively and you’re questioning my orange being natural or not.” Ichigo sighed and gave a helpless shrug, “Yeah, sure, why not?”

“It’s not unknown for humans your age to change their hair color,” Ukitake attempted to soothe ruffled feathers, “Most of us assumed that you had too.”

Zangetsu hid his amused smirk behind the last of his saké. “Thank you for the saké Shunsui-Taicho, but I believe I should quit while I am ahead,” he gave the man a nod and set the saucer back by Ichigo’s knee before fading back into his own world. He knew that he would be hearing the rest of his charge’s woes tonight, and for that, it would be best to be sober.

As the spirit faded, Kyouraku gave an amused look when what was left behind wasn’t any sort of weapon, but the very glasses that Ichigo had perched on his head. “Tell Zangetsu-dono that he is welcome to come and drink any time you visit.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell him.” Ichigo dismissed, focusing on his chords. Frowning, he strummed a shingle chord, then another that sounded minutely different until he found one that he liked before continuing on with the song.

Yamamoto should have been surprised when the zanpakutou sealed itself, but he really wasn’t. The boy seemed to mock tradition in every way that he could, and then some. A traditional sealed sword looked like a katana and only the length varied, as well as the energy level output. _Normally_ shikai was a good five times stronger than when sealed, but the boy’s natural levels barely dropped an iota. “What is your release command, boy?” He asked, but it came out like more of a command, which Ichigo started to answer before his brain caught up.

“Ma-“ The boy blinked, paused, shook his head and chuckled, “What would you think it would be? It’s ‘Mamoru.’ That’s why I fight, to ‘protect’.”

“Appropriate enough, eh Shunsui?” Ukitake chuckled, and then shivered as a cool wind passed by and rattled the tree they sat under. “Ichigo-kun, I was wondering if you had anything warmer to wear with your uniform? Fall is fast approaching and it will be getting colder out.” He asked, digging around in the bottom of the picnic basket.

Ichigo shrugged, “I was just going to wear a shirt under my uniform when it got cold enough.”

“Unacceptable.” Yamamoto rumbled.

“Yes,” Kyouraku agreed, a gleam in his eyes, “I don’t think that would quite work, Ichigo-kun.”

“I think that this would work much better.” Ukitake smiled, pulling a white bundle from the depths of the basket. “Here, try this on.” He handed over the bundle which was folded in a way to proudly display the English ‘15’ in the traditional captain’s diamond.

Ichigo sat silent, staring, tracing the one, then the five. “I can’t take this.” He finally sputtered out, trying to shove it back into Ukitake’s arms. “It’s a captain’s haori, isn’t it? I can’t take it. All the positions are filled and, and I’m still alive.” Pure panic flooded his eyes. “I’m just a Daiko, thank you, but no.”

Shunsui grinned as he stage whispered into Yamamoto’s ear. “See, I said that he wouldn’t take it.” Embarrassment flamed the boy’s face as he sat the haori down on the picnic blanket as far out of reach as he could go without reaching and looking completely rude.

Yamamoto nodded at his older student and gestured at the haori. “Indulge an old man, Kurosaki, and try it on before giving it back. If this was a captain’s test, you have passed in multiple ways. Nearly every captain has recommended you and you have beaten several, including Aizen, in full contest; as well as exceeding expectations when being interviewed by three senior captains. Any other circumstance and that would be an actual captain’s haori.”

“If you wish,” Ukitake unfolded the haori and draped it over Ichigo’s shoulders, “Think of it as a training haori.”

“Yeah,” Shunsui added on, “you get the pay, might as well look the part.”

“Pay?” Ichigo choked, “I’ve been getting _paid_ this whole time?”

Ukitake nodded. “Not the entire time, but especially after your daring rescue of Rukia-chan. A lieutenant’s stipend is, surprisingly, not much, but the hollow bounties you’ve accumulated have more than made up for it.”

“Lieutenant’s pay?” Ichigo’s brows furrowed, absently tugging the haori on. “But…”

“At first, I was paying you as my subordinate. On paper, you were unofficially ‘JousanbanKurosaki-fukutaicho’.”

“Then Rukia-chan was finally promoted.” Shunsui spoke up.

“Yes,” Ukitake nodded. The girl had been his lieutenant in everything except title and pay for years now; only her brother being resistant to the promotion. “And I already had two sanzeki. The other captains protested.”

“So it was either _pro_ motion or _de_ motion.” Shunsui grinned, “And you’ve done too much already to not get paid for it.”

“Oh.” Ichigo fingered the silky fabric of the haori, feeling the difference between it and the rough weave of his shihakushou. “I do it because I have to.”

“Humility is a good quality in a leader; the young ones did well to recognize it in you.” Yamamoto spoke, seeing the captain that this boy would grow to become. The title was still too grand, like a kimono too large, but he would fill out in time, like another young one he watched closely. “By accepting the Captain’s Haori, you are accepting the responsibility of the temporarily-sanctioned ‘Jougobantai (squad fifteen).’ You are responsible for the communication between Seireitei and the humans under your care, as well as all shinigami transferred to the Karakura-cho area on temporary assignment.”

Ichigo nodded seriously, taking in what the Sou-taichou listed as his responsibilities. _waitaminute_ “Isn’t that what I was doing already?” he asked drily, to which Yamamoto nodded.

“You will also be assigned liaison tasks when needed and will be expected to come when summoned to captain’s meetings and report your progress.”

“Yeah, I figured. But in the meantime, I’m still a Daiko and a free agent.” Ichigo was adamant on the fact. “You can ask for my help, but I reserve the right to say no if I don’t like your order.”

Ukitake hid a smile behind his hand and Yamamoto suppressed a sigh with a certain look. “I have come to expect no different. And the loyalty you inspired while doing so is… disconcerting.”

Shunsui snorted, laughing into his saké. “If you’re not careful, Yama-jii, the kid could pull the rug right from under your feet. He nearly did it too when he went to Hueco Mundo to rescue one of his nakama.”

Ichigo gave a sour look. “I never intended to, nor do I ever want to. I didn’t ask anyone to help that time. Karakura’s enough to try to protect, all of Soul Society… No, thank you.”

“And that is why, Ichigo-kun, your responsibilities while alive are mostly what you have been doing already. Learn, grow, and by the time a position will be open for you, you will be more than ready.”

“You hope.” Ichigo muttered darkly, biting into a sweet bun.

“Oh, you’re already ready; you just could use a little polishing that most new captains don’t get to have. Might I suggest in the interim taking some classes at the academy and learning some reiatsu -suppressing techniques? You don’t want your subordinates’ passing out in your very presence now, do you?” Shunsui chuckled.

“Might I also suggest going around to the different divisions and seeing how each runs.” Ukitake added, “I know for a fact that every one of us views our training and responsibilities differently. My division, for example, is run like a family, where we all support each other to do our best. Shunsui’s division leans toward women for some reason.”

“I believe that there’s not enough support for strong female shinigami. I was actually the first division outside of fourth to accept female officers.” Shunsui grinned, taking another sip. Seriously, Ichigo thought the guy was on his fourth bottle or something and was barely even tipsy. The womanizing drunk.

“My division focuses on administration.” Yamamoto spoke at last. “We only have a handful of new recruits each year based on written scores, not necessarily fighting prowess. I would suggest learning how to file a proper report when visiting the First.”

Ichigo nodded, playing quietly as he listened to the senior trio and their assessment of the different squads work ethic (or lack thereof) and atmosphere. Personally, he didn’t believe their assessment of the Eleventh for the most part. Yeah, it was a bit crass and atypical, but it worked in a dysfunctional family sort of way. Actually, it almost reminded him of his own family in a way. True, Zaraki left most of the paperwork to Yumichika, but it still got done and filed. And there was a reason why the eleventh hailed one of the largest number counts, and it had to do with a phrase he had heard while recovering once. It went something along the lines of ‘once in Eleventh, always in Eleventh. We’ve seen you at your best and worst blah, blah, blah.’ Then again, Kyouraku was pretty accurate to say that they were either fighting or drinking, if not both.

Ichigo smiled to himself, remembering the day that Ikkaku told him that he’d been adopted into the Eleventh. It was after he had beaten most of the lower seats in a free-for-all brawl and was slumped against the man, nursing respective shiners… Ikkaku’s noticeably shinier than his. Huffing out a tired laugh, he patted Ichigo’s injured shoulder. “Welcome to the Eleventh, kid. When you get old enough, we owe ya a welcoming drink.” That was as close to open acceptance as he had gotten.

Then again, now that he thought about it, he had been adopted into a few squads. Tenth (after Toushirou finally accepted that he was never going to be called by his proper title), Sixth (through Rukia and Renji mostly), Fourth (he didn’t exactly know how, but word had gotten around that he was a doctor’s son, so ended up helping patching up some Eleventh division members one time), Eleventh (for being the cause of said wounds) and Thirteenth (Ukitake-san just had a habit of adopting anyone under the physical age of 30, no matter the squad. Or, really, anyone that thought he needed someone to talk to or something to do.).

“Oh, that’s nice.” Shunsui commented in general, watching as the sunset burst into a multitude of colors. “Good food, good company, war isn’t looming over our heads like a storm cloud, and music. Yama-jii, did you bring your flute, by any chance?”

Yamamoto shook his head, “I did not believe I had a reason to. Children’s music has changed so much since my day, there is no possibility for our music to blend even if I did.” At that, Ichigo switched to the oldest piece he knew. Actually, it was originally a piece for the Biwa (a lute-like instrument) that he had modified to fit better on the guitar.

“Ah, Shunsui listen, is that what I think it is?” Ukitake asked excitedly, tugging on his friend’s sleeve.

"I... Believe it it." He hummed, setting down his saucer. "I, the last time I heard that song was in the old capital. Her name was Koyuki. 'The sweet chrysanthemum blooms as the waves toss their silvery mane...'" The man hummed along with the guitar, nearly lost in the sweet near-forgotten memories. "Where did you learn that song, Ichigo-kun?"

“I was asked to help clean out this lady’s house after she passed and the granddaughter was going to throw away this box of old stuff.” Ichigo shrugged, switching to another song. “Apparently the woman used to be a geisha and recorded all of her music on paper, and I convinced the lady to give it to me. I like the challenge the music has.”

“I think you’re playing it wonderfully.” Ukitake complimented while Ichigo shook his head in disagreement.

“It’s rough. I wouldn’t want to play it in front of anyone for a while.”

“Acceptable. Unlike your fighting ability, you take time to master your skill set before performing musically.” Ichigo flushed, biting back his retort to the Sou-taichou. It wasn’t like he had the time to perfect any of his skills before being forced into using them on the battlefield.

“Ah, Ichigo-kun, are you staying the night? I have an empty room in the barracks for you any time.” Ichigo looked up and grimaced, seeing the sun fully set

“No, thank you this time, Ukitake-san. I already stayed longer than I should. I should get going before dad throws a conniption.”

Ukitake nodded. “Understandable. Tell Isshin hello for us.”

“And that I owe him a drink!” Shunsui chuckled, hoisting his saucer in a salute.

“You owe him three, apparently.” Ukitake murmured.

“Three?” Shunsui yelped, eyeing the carrot top, “There’s more like him?”

Catching on, Ichigo gave the captains a wide grin and tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, the twins. Karin’s a tough cookie, but Yuzu takes after our mother.” He said with all the brotherly pride he could muster. “They’re my reason for fighting. Even more so since they just started Middle School.” Ichigo froze for a moment before shaking off his thought. Ukitake raised a questioning eyebrow. “It’s nothing. I just realized that the girls are thirteen now. I need to head home.” He finished putting away his guitar and attached the strap to the case’s outside.

“Taicho!” a feminine voice called from the distance. Grimacing, Kouraku pulled his hat lower over his eyes. “There you are! You’ve been out here drinking again, haven’t you?” There was no question, just a bald-faced statement of truth.

“But of course, my lovely Nanao-chan. What would be a celebration without a little saké?”

“Celebra-oh.” Nanao stepped back and gave a respectful –if brief- bow. “Congratulations, Kurosaki-Taicho, on your promotion.”

“Uh… it’s Ichigo, please.” He murmured, absently adjusting his guitar strap. “I should really get going now. Thank you for the offer, but I have to think about it first.” Ichigo turned to leave, but then looked over his shoulder with a brilliant smile. “Nanao-san, if you want, you can have my saké. I don’t drink, so it would be a waste otherwise.”

“H-hai, thank you!” She dipped into another bow to hide her flustered face. She had heard that the boy rarely smiled. If he smiled more, he would surely give Byakuya a run for his title of Bachelor of the Year. She could already see why he was already high on the lists, but that smile! With it, he could win for sure!

She needed to call an emergency SWA meeting.

* * *

Back at home, Ichigo peeled off his new haori and tossed it onto his desk chair before sliding back into his human body with a small grimace. Slipping back into his body felt almost like too-tight pants, even more so since regaining his powers.

Sitting back up, Ichigo stared at the haori that spun gently where it hung off the back. Subconsciously, he hung it off the back of the chair so that the ‘15’ was proudly displayed. The bottom hem barely brushed the floor while the sleeves fell to about four inches above the hem. A short jacket seemed almost appropriate for his new ‘temporary’ status, down to the smaller diamonds that dotted the edge.

A farce of a knock sounded out before Isshin slid in the door. “You’re home.” It was a statement of fact more than a greeting. “The girls were worried that you had disappeared again.” In the past months ‘serious Isshin’ had shown his face more often, especially when shinigami business was brought up and after the girls had gone to bed.

"I needed time to think." Ichigo acquiesced to Isshin's silent request to speak and gave his father room to sit on the bed by crossing his legs. "Are the twins in bed?"

“They’re studying.” Isshin gestured to the haori sitting innocently on the chair back. “I take it the captains spoke to you?”

Ichigo nodded. “Yamamoto, Ukitake-san and Kyouraku-san said they were there to watch the sunset and that Unohana-san couldn’t make it, so they had extra snacks.” He paused a moment. “Unohana-san wasn’t coming in the first place, was she? They meant to come find me today.”

Isshin nodded with a proud smile. “It takes three captains to interview and present the prospective with their new haori. I’m surprised though, I thought it would be Toushirou-kun and Byakuya-bo. Joushiro was a given, seeing as he was the one who asked my permission through Kisuke.” At Ichigo’s blank look, Isshin thwapped his son on the back of his head. “While you live under my roof, you’re still my responsibility, and until then things like _earning a captaincy_ and _marrying Rukia-chan_ will still need my blessing.” At that, Isshin couldn’t hold it in much longer. “Ichigo! My son is a Captain! Your mother would be so proud!”

Deftly dodging a tackle disguised as a hug, Ichigo jumped off his bed and snarled. “Damnit Old Man, I haven’t even said yes yet!”

“But you will!” Isshin continued his attack with a side-kick, “and that’s good enough cause to celebrate!” Rolling with the kick, Ichigo grabbed his father’s leg and used the leverage to toss him into the wall.

Quickly recovering, Isshin grabbed the haori with one hand and deftly turned it inside-out, exposing the red lining. “But until then, you can wear it like _this_!” he crowed, managing to drape it over his son’s shoulders, where it sunk through to settle on his spiritual body. “Night, son!” Isshin grinned brightly and shut the door behind himself before Ichigo could retaliate. His grin dropped and he quickly walked down to the clinic, where he would have some privacy to call his old friend.

“Urahara Shoten!” the proprietor himself answered after the second ring.

“Kisuke,” Urahara frowned at the gravity in his friend’s voice. “It’s about Ichigo.”

“Oh?” he tried to keep his tone light. “Has the prodigal son returned once again?”

“Aa, but that’s not why I called. Ichigo needs an adjustment on his gigai.”

“Gigai?” He could imagine Urahara fluttering his fan nervously. “I don’t know what-“

“DON’T-“ Isshin breathed and continued with his quieter voice. “Don’t deny it Kisuke; you killed my son two years ago so that he could rescue Rukia-chan. And now his gigai will start to fail unless it’s adjusted or he learns some control.”

There was a pause over the line while Urahara gathered his thoughts. “That’s what I feared. Do you want your son to know he’s in a gigai or continue to believe he’s still in the body he was born with? Either way, if we’re not careful, we’ll have an angry powerhouse on our hands.”

“I know.” Isshin sighed, “He’s going to find out eventually, but until then, I’ll find a way to get him to leave his gigai at your shop. How long would you need?”

“Depending on the damage, it could take an hour or all weekend.” Isshin nodded and looked in the direction of his son’s fluxing reiatsu. “Next weekend then. I’ll bring up staying weekends in Seireitei so that he can learn how to be a captain.”

“Ah, so he got the promotion then!” Urahara perked up. “Then congratulations are in order!”

Isshin nodded. “I thought Yoruichi would have told you already.”

“She did, but it’s much more satisfying from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. So, until Tuesday?”

“Aa,” Isshin confirmed. “I’ll be there around seven.” With that, Isshin hung up, checked on his children’s reiatsu signatures one last time, and went to bed.

* * *

“Ichigo…” the whisper came from the back of his mind and he took the cue to sink into his inner world. Opening his eyes, the buildings remained how he was used to them being, at least before the final battle with Aizen all those months ago. Standing on the smooth glass window, he saw the ground to his right, hundreds of feet away, and the tops of the buildings stretched incredibly far to his left, breaking the surface of the flood that still filled his world. Beyond the surface he could see sunlight on the other side, making the water glitter.

“The flood is receding.” Zangetsu spoke from behind Ichigo, floating on the subtle current. “Please see that it continues to do so.” Ichigo nodded, staring at the surface as if mesmerized.

“At least the rain stopped.” He murmured, kicking off to float beside Zangetsu for a moment before swimming towards that teasing barrier between water and air. It seemed to take hours before he was able to touch the surface. Landing, he pressed his hand against the barrier and passed through into the sunlight. As soon as he did so, the world righted itself back to what he was used to. While swimming, there was no up or down, just that shimmering barrier to surpass. Sitting down, he allowed the sun to warm his back as he looked around. The sky was clear overhead with only the odd cloud passing by the sun, but on the horizon, storm clouds brewed, promising the deluge that would happen if he was not careful.

“I never said yes.” He finally spoke, staring at Zangetsu’s watery visage reflected in the choppy waters, the stiff wind cooling his moist skin.

“But you will.” Zangetsu spoke, standing slightly behind Ichigo and to the right. “They know that and you know that.”

“Yeah, I will.” He nodded silently. “I just don’t think I’m ready yet.”

“There is no great hurry, Ichigo. But it is also a great honor. The shinigami and your nakama are already aware of your leadership qualities and follow without question.”

“But I never asked them to follow. And when I tell them not to; they still come.” Ichigo grew frustrated and Zangetsu nodded sagely.

“At times it is he who speaks first that is followed.” He tilted his head slightly, “And instinct marks you a leader among men.”

“And I should follow my instincts.” Ichigo sighed, he had yet to see his hollow, but his presence always tickled the back of his mind. “Within reason.” He amended. As much as it was tempted, he would not pin Renji every time the pineapple did something stupid.

Zangetsu hummed in amusement, having heard the errant thought. “True. And now sleep. You have homework to finish before class.” With a small grimace, Ichigo nodded and closed his eyes.

 


	2. Mother

“And this is the academy…Ichigo-kun?” Ukitake had taken upon himself to give the shinigami-daiko an official tour around the Seireitei. Before then, the boy had been practically stumbling around blind, lucky that he could find anything within a reasonable amount of time. And now the boy had disappeared off somewhere. “Ichigo-kun?” Being next to the sekkiseki wall, his senses were somewhat muted. Finally looking up, Ukitake was surprised to find the boy kneeling on the wall, looking in. Surprised, mostly, that the youth could withstand touching the wall so casually. Then again, that would also explain why his reiatsu had all-but disappeared.

Jumping up to join the boy on the wall, Ukitake studied Ichigo’s expression for a moment. “Would you like a tour of the inside?” Shaking his head distractedly, Ichigo jumped down inside the courtyard and stood in the shade of a nearby tree.

Following the boy’s line of sight, all he saw was a student with strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a reasonable knot. Curious, Ukitake sat down to watch what would happen. If he remembered correctly, the woman was a Second-year student that was showing some promise. She had shown up in the lower districts about two years ago and almost immediately came for the academy testing. He believed her name started with a ‘Ma-‘something.

She turned the page and sighed impatiently. “Ichigo-kun, are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to come and say hello?” She called out, putting down her book. In his mind’s eye, Ukitake recalled the strange combination of love and apprehension that colored the boy’s face. The boy’s aura, which had been suppressed to nearly the point of nonexistence, flared in brief surprise before reigning in once again. Ukitake suspected that Ichigo had some semblance of control, but this was better than he expected. And it also proved that the youth just never bothered to control himself.

Stepping forward, Ichigo choked on his words, wanting to say everything and nothing at the same time. Putting her book into her student’s bag, she stood up and smiled gently, “Ichigo, how you’ve grown.”

“Mom.” Ah, yes, now he remembered. Her name was Kurosaki Masaki. Isshin’s reason for leaving the Thirteen Court Squads and, he realized now, Ichigo’s mother. Stepping forward, Ichigo touched her face. She leaned into his embrace and the boy crumpled, burying his face in the crook of her neck and soaking her collar. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, _I’m sorry_.” He murmured, biting sobs.

Masaki couldn’t help but start to cry as well, stroking her son’s hair, whispering reassurances. The pair collapsed to their knees, only the two of them mattering. Honestly, Ukitake felt like a voyeur, but he would stay behind to make sure their reunion stayed uninterrupted. Speaking of interruptions, the class bell chose that moment to peal. Pulling away slightly, Masaki gave her son an apologetic look. “Ichigo-kun, I’m sorry, but I have to get back to classes.”

“Nonsense, Kurosaki-san.” Ukitake jumped down from the wall and scooped up Masaki’s class bag. “I would believe this is a fine excuse as any to take the afternoon off. Come, I will sign you out for the day.” Ukitake internally grimaced, he sounded like Shunsui for a minute there. What did they say about time and picking up others’ traits again? “Ichigo-kun, if you would be so kind, would you carry your mother’s bag for her?”

“Sure” he nodded dumbly, scrubbing his eye with a sleeve as discreetly as possible. As much of an adult Ichigo acted most of the time, Ukitake remembered just how much of a child he actually was. If he would have grown up in the spirit world, he would be even younger than Yachiru-chan. That was far too soon to be separated from one’s mother and fighting wars.

Opening the door to the office, Ukitake allowed the two Kurosaki to enter first. “Ukitake-sensei!” The office clerk chirped, springing up and giving a respectful bow. “What brings you in today?”

Ukitake smiled and gestured for the secretary to relax. “I was giving Ichigo-kun here a tour and we happened to run across his mother.” He gestured to Ichigo and Masaki respectively, “And I was wondering if it would be too much to ask for Kurosaki-san to be released from her afternoon classes?”

“Oh! Of course, I’ll pass along the message to her teachers.”

“Thank you Sora-chan.” Ukitake bowed and ushered the two out. “Now that that’s taken care of, I believe it’s time for lunch. Is there anything in particular you would like, Ichigo-kun, Kurosaki-san?” Masaki shook her head, citing that she was just on her lunch break before turning to Ichigo.

“Curry?” he asked slyly, ducking his head. Masaki laughed and swung their linked hands.

“Curry is still my little Strawberry’s favorite dish, eh?” She smiled, giving her son a peek on the cheek. Or at least tried to, seeing as he was now quite taller than he used to be. After a moment, he leaned down and accepted his kiss, letting her hang on his neck for another moment or two.

“I know this is nice little restaurant in district five that serves the best curry, from what I’ve been told. Now would be a good time to find if those rumors are true, would it not?” Ukitake smiled, turning to lead away. “Kurosaki-san, have you learned flash steps yet? District five is quite the walk and we’d get there much faster with hakuda.” She shook her head and Ichigo grinned. Scooping his mother up, he only told her to ‘hold on tight’ before racing after Ukitake. He would never admit it, but he missed the speed that came with flash steps.

All too soon, they reached the market/restaurant district and decided to walk the rest of the way. To the left of the main street and down a few alleyways, Ukitake pushed aside a nondescript shoji door and ushered the two in. Inside was tastefully decorated in medium-toned woods and the odd decoration or two. The overall feel was like stepping into someone’s kitchen. This time of day, the restaurants held mostly merchants with only the odd shinigami on their day off.

“Ukitake-taichou, its been a while.” The young patron grinned, lugging a bin of dishes. “Give me a minute and I’ll be right with you!” Nodding in return, Ukitake ushered his guests to a table. Sooner than the younger two expected, they were presented with tea and a handwritten menu.

“The usual Ukitake-taichou? And would your friends like more time or have you already told them what’s good?”

“My usual would be nice, than you Nasaki-san.” Ukitake nodded, sipping his tea. “And you Ichigo-kun, does the curry still interest you, or has something else caught your eye?” Although everything looked good, Ichigo would stick with the curry during this outing. He would have to remember how to get here.

“Curry’s fine. Thank you Ukitake-san.”

“I’ll stay with my tea this time, Thank you.” Masaki smiled at Nasaki and took a sip from the cup she had cradled in her hands. Nodding, the ageless man glided back into the kitchen. “So, my little Strawberry,” Masaki put her tea down. “How is the rest of my _fruit bowl_ of a family,” her face fell momentarily, “Or do you know?”

Ichigo shook his head and gave his mother a genuine smile. “I saw them this morning. This,“ he plucked at his shihakushou, “Is a part-time job, (one of them, at least) but I’m still in high school. Hmm…” his brow furrowed, trying to figure out where to start. “The twins started Jr. High a few months ago. Karin is a lot like Tatsuki, just with soccer and Yuzu… takes after you. She found a lot of your recipes after… yeah.” It was just good timing that the food showed up when it did. Picking up his hashi, Ichigo poked at his curry before picking it up and took a bite.

“And your father?” Masaki asked gently, pleasantly surprised when a bowl of rice and pickled vegetables made it to her space. The owner gave her a wink and mouthed that it was on the house. Last was Ukitake with a bowl full of farmer’s stew that he fully enthralled himself in, letting the two continue uninterrupted.

“As crazy as ever.” Ichigo smirked, popping another piece of chicken in his mouth. “He put up this huge poster in the living room and wails at it whenever one of us do anything.”

“Like?” Masaki prodded gently, already having an idea.

“When Yuzu cooks a new dish. Karin winning one of her matches, when I’m late for dinner. When one of us beats one of his sneak attacks…”

“When you went out and started saving the world?” Masaki asked gently. “Did he train you to be a shinigami? Do the girls know?”

“No,” Ichigo shook his head; a soft smile on his face after the spike of alarm ran its course. Of course Masaki would know about Isshin’s past as a shinigami. “I didn’t know about Dad until I had been doing the shinigami-daiko thing for almost half a year. I told him that I would wait until he wanted to tell me anything. I know that Karin knows, and I think she’s been getting some casual training from Geta-Boshi, but I don’t know about Yuzu. Last I knew, she could sense them but not see them. Then again, nobody has really talked to me about it in a while. All I know, Yuzu could be taking lessons as well.” Ichigo let out a tense breath, frustrated that he had been all but useless these past months.

“Karin… is that the dark-haired twin that caught Shiro-chan’s attention?” Ukitake asked politely. “I believe it’s because of her that he has a ball in his office decorated with black pentagons.”

“He does?” Ichigo shook his head in amused disbelief.

“He does!” A flamboyantly husky voice exclaimed, matching with a pair of arms that smashed the back of his head into a prominent pair of breasts. “Toushirou-kun gets so embarrassed when I catch him playing with it.

“Hello Rangiku-san.” Ichigo scowled out into space, not willing or able to move his head to either side. “Please let go.”

“What did I tell you, call me Rangiku-chan!” She pouted, sitting in the unoccupied fourth chair. “Mou,” She looked around the table and spotted an academy student. “Ichigo-kun, are you cheating on Rukia-chan?” The boy quickly turned purple from a combination of choking on his rice and the blush that threatened to invade up to his ears.

Masaki calmly handed her son his tea and rubbed his back until he stopped coughing. “Who is Rukia, Ichigo-kun?” She asked sweetly, “Will I get to meet her?”

Ukitake took mercy on the suffering boy and shook his head in amusement. “Rukia-chan is my fukutaicho, Kurosaki-san, and your son’s liaison to soul society.”

“We’re not dating.” He growled to both ladies sitting to his left. “And yeah, you’ll meet her sooner than later.” His face softening when he spoke to his mother. “I’m having dinner with Byakuya and Rukia. I don’t think they’d mind you coming too.” What he didn’t mention was that she would likely make the night less stressful. Dinner with Byakuya was generally something to be avoided.

“That sounds lovely. I can’t wait to meet _your friends_.” She gave a strange inflection at the end of her sentence that Ichigo caught and cringed at.

“Aa. Mom, this is Matsumoto Rangiku, fukutaicho of the tenth division. And Ukitake Juushiro-Taicho was the one that got you out of afternoon classes.” He gestured to each in turn. “Rangiku-san, this is my mother, Kurosaki Masaki…”

“Second year student, advanced track.” Masaki bowed her head before turning back to her son. “My, Ichigo, you seem to have quite a few high-ranking friends.”

“Yes he does!” Rangiku gave Ichigo another hug. “Mou, do you know _anyone_ lower ranked?’

Ichigo gave a blank look, thinking. “… Hanatarou… I think he was a seventh seat when I met him.” Ichigo shrugged. “Ikkaku and Yumichika are third and fifth seats. And I know quite a few guys in eleventh…”

“They don’t count.” Matsumoto deadpanned before lighting up and pounding her fist into her other hand. “Ah, Ichigo-kun, are you coming next weekend?”

“What’s next weekend?”

“The fall festival, silly!” Rangiku giggled. “A bunch of us will be camping on Sokyokuhill to watch fireworks.”

“Shiba?”

“Of course! What other fireworks would there be?” Ichigo nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment, glancing at his mother.

“Yeah, I’ll see if I can come. I want to catch up with those two anyway. Ukitake-san, can I call in a favor?” he nodded that he was listening. “Would it be possible to get a few day-passes for that day?”

“Ooh! I’ll vouch for Orihime!” Rangiku bounced in her seat with her hand raised like she was in class.

“I guess I’ll ask the guys if they want to come too, but I was thinking more for Karin and Yuzu. It would be a good time to introduce them to Seireitei and get their levels tested, just in case.”

“Ah!” Masaki got an idea. “Ichigo-chan, are you going home tonight or tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. I promised to help Hisagi with some drills for his squad.”

“Ah, good. Do you think you can give Isshin a letter for me?... He does have his powers back by now, right?” She asked, dead serious.

“Yeah. I can pick it up before I leave.” Ichigo didn’t quite know how to feel, being a messenger service between his parents, but at least he didn’t have to read the thing.

“I believe that I can acquire a few passes for your sisters, Ichigo-kun, but you should know by now that Inoue-chan, Yasutora-kun and Ishida-kun have a standing open pass to visit any time.”

“Aa, I know,” Ichigo looked something like he had bitten into a lemon, rubbing the faint scar at the back of his head. “But I would need a third day-pass for a … family friend. She’s still sore about leaving her behind in Karakura and I want her tested as well.”

“I see.” Ukitake kept his face carefully blank, “And what is the name of your friend, Ichigo-kun?”

“Arisawa Tatsuki. She remained conscious during Ulquiorraand Yammy’s attack, and was able to move around freely during the Karakura-cho battle.”

“Ah!” Rangiku popped up. “The tomboy that was dragging along those other two boys. She was strong, I was impressed.”

Ichigo nodded. “Keigo and Mizuiro.”

“You don’t want to test those two as well?” Ukitake asked, mentally reviewing what his reports had told him about the classmates.

Ichigo gave a constipated look. “They’re my friends and have some awareness, but not enough to bother testing until they die.” And he wanted to enjoy the festival, not have to wrangle those two nuisances the entire time. It would be bad enough with half of his friends drunk anyway.

Ukitake nodded. “Three passes then. I’ll let you now by Friday if the requests go through.”

“Thank you, Ukitake-san.” He went back to his lunch with a relieved smile.

“It’s so good to hear that you’re still friends with Tatsuki-chan. Is she still making you cry at karate practice?” Masaki asked with such innocence that Ichigo ducked his head.

“No. I-ah… I stopped going to karate after I beat Tatsuki.”

“Oh. I see.” She remained carefully neutral, but he could feel the disappointment rolling off her in waves. Masaki had been Ichigo’s biggest supporter when it came to martial arts. “And poor Tatsuki-chan?”

“Number two in Japan’s Vale tudo tournament, women’s division. She plans on taking number one in a few months as long as she doesn’t break her arm on some idiot again.”

“That’s good. Tatsuki-chan has always been a bit… violent. I’m glad that she found a focus.” Ichigo nodded in agreement. “So, tell me about your other friends, since I’m sure I’ll be meeting at least some of them come next weekend.” Ichigo nodded, finishing his lunch, contemplating who he should talk about first.

“First, there’s Chad… Yasutora Sado. I found him – or he found me – because some punks had stolen the coin his Abuelo –his grandfather-- had given him.” Ichigo absently tapped where Chad’s coin would lie. “He saved Karin from a hollow and that’s when he got his powers. Inoue Orihime met Tatsuki in Middle School and she was more like her friend than mine until she got her powers. And Ishida Uryuu… I have no clue why I’m friends with that prick.”

“Ishida?” Masaki perked up. “Any relation to Ryuken? I knew he had a son about your age.”

“Yeah. Ishida-san gets our overflow patients when the clinic gets too full and Dad helps out when the hospital is short-staffed.”

Masaki hummed and nodded, understanding what her son hadn’t said. “I’m glad to see that those two get along still. I was afraid that they would end up pushing each other away. And it sounds like you and Uryuu-kun have turned out to be great friends.”

Ichigo shook his head, his usual scowl creasing his eyes. “About as well as Inoue’s cooking and my stomach.” He muttered, glad that he had finished his lunch.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ichigo! Orihime’s cooking is delicious. I do admit she does have a few strange combinations, but it’s all good” Rangiku stood up for her human-world friend.

“No, thank you.” Ichigo shuddered, sipping from his tea cup. “Why are you here, Rangiku-san?”

The woman giggled and waved her hand dismissively. “Its lunch time, Ichigo-kun, and this is one of the best restaurants around, didn’t you know?”

“And Toushirou let you go? Or are you ducking your paperwork again?” Even Ichigo had heard of Rangiku’s escapades in paper-dodging. All Rangiku’s response was is to down the cup of saké she had ordered while Ukitake finished paying their bill.

“Speaking of paperwork, I believe it’s time for us to move on. Enjoy your lunch, Matsumoto-fukutaicho.” Ukitake easily excused them all with a polite bow. Outside, Ukitake turned to the Kurosaki duo with a smile, “I really do have paperwork to do and you have a dinner with the Kuchiki family to prepare for. Make sure your mother gets to her dorm safely tonight and I will tell my fukutaicho to expect another for dinner. Have fun children!” Ukitake smiled at Ichigo and gave a small bow to the Kurosaki matriarch before disappearing in a burst of shunpo.

“What a kind Taicho. I’ve heard the rumors, but he doesn’t seem too sickly to me.” Masaki observed, absently grabbing Ichigo’s hand while the boy led the back to the main market street.

Ichigo nodded, acknowledging his mother’s hand with a small squeeze before answering. “It’s the symptoms for TB, but he’s not contagious from what I can tell and it’s not as fast-acting as most cases are. He’s definitely having one of his better days though.” Ichigo looked away to window shop, spotting a particular store. “If we’re going to dinner at Byakuya’s and the festival,” he refused to say ‘date with dad’, “you need at least a yukata.”

Masaki giggled as Ichigo pulled an elaborately fruit-themed yukata from the display rack. “Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly!” She held her hand over her mouth in near-delirious mirth.

“C’mon, try it on at least, please?” Ichigo held it out for Masaki to take, somehow finding a red strawberry-patterned obi to go along with it. The whole thing was loud and utterly ridiculous. Isshin would love it.

Soon enough, Masaki took the yukata and went into the back with an attendant. “Ok, but only because I can’t say no to those puppy eyes of yours.” She shot over her shoulder as the curtains closed. Now for some real shopping.

After a minute of browsing, Ichigo admitted defeat and looked over at the store owner, who was giving him the stink eye. “Ma’am…” deciding polite would be the best course of action, he bowed, “While my mother is trying on the yukata, I was wondering if you could help me find a better suited one for dinner. I’m introducing her to Kuchiki-Taicho and Kuchiki-fukutaicho at their house tonight.” If there was one lesson he had learned, it’s that the name ‘Kuchiki’ went far.

“Oh! My, that yukata simply won’t do!” She commented, referring to the fruit-themed monstrosity. Hurrying over to some shelves, she grabbed several folded kimono before spreading them out on a nearby table. Nearly all of them had sakura in the pattern in some form or another.

Shaking his head, Ichigo silently rejected the displayed kimono. “I’m not trying to impress them, just introduce my mother to them as friends. I want something a little less… somber.” Ichigo pulled out one on a whim and had to take a closer look. It had sprays of flowers in blues, pinks and purples on a background of periwinkle with embroidered fans that only showed when it caught the light just right. Overall, it was subtle with each flower being the size of his thumbnail or smaller, but still bright enough to reflect his mother’s personality.

“Oh my, I forgot about that one.” The proprietor’s voice reflected silent awe. She wondered how she could steer him away from one of the more expensive kimono in the shop. The boy didn’t look like he could afford lunch, let alone a yukata for his student of a ‘mother.’

“That one is pretty.” Masaki commented from behind Ichigo, “but not quite your color.”

“Mom!” he spun around, futilely hiding the kimono on the table behind his back.

Stepping back, Masaki ‘hmm’ed in amusement before spinning around. “How do I look?” The yukata had a background of white with each of the fruit life-sized and clustered in groups that included persimmons, watermelons, oranges and with tiny cherries and strawberries scattered in the empty spaces to give an overall ‘pink’ feel to it. The red-on-red obi just served to draw out the red fruits further.

The yukata still looked incredibly loud and _fruity_ , but Masaki seemed to wear it well. “I think dad would like it.” Ichigo smirked, “And I think that Yuzu has a hair clip that I don’t think she wouldn’t mind you using.”

“Yes, but didn’t you say that you were having dinner with Kuchiki-sama? That little yukata simply won’t do. Here, your son picked out a kimono that is just lovely, don’t you agree? And much more appropriate for the occasion.” She held up the aforementioned garment and handed it to the attendant, giving Masaki a gentle push back into the fitting room “Now, wait here while I find an obi to match.” She turned around to find the shinigami boy holding up a pale pink obi with wisteria sprays as the only decoration.

“Would this do?”

“Oh, yes, I suppose it would.” She nodded, trying to hide her surprise. The boy had more sense than he let on.

“I have two little sisters and two of my best friends are girls. I get dragged to do shopping,” Ichigo shrugged, “A lot.”

“You still have more fashion sense than most men that get dragged in here.“ She said offhand and went to hand the obi to her assistant. She came back and eyed Ichigo up and down, the fruit yukata and obi tossed over her shoulder. “Now, what about you?”

“Eh?” was Ichigo’s oh-so-intelligent reply as he gently took the obi and yukata and started folding it for the matron.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, shinigami-kun.” She hovered, watching Ichigo fold the yukata with expert hands. “Are you going to wear your uniform to a dinner with Kuchiki-sama?”

“Yeah, I was planning to.” Ichigo shrugged offhand and gave the folded yukata to the shopkeeper. “I’m going to get this one and the one mom’s putting on, is that ok?”

Taking the yukata and obi back, she eyed the young man, seeing no markings of status. “And how will you be paying shinigami-san?”

“Oh, yeah. Do you take this?” Ichigo held up a card after digging through his sleeves, “Or will I have to use this?” he asked sheepishly. One card was the simple message that all Kuchiki-owned businesses should send the bill to Kuchiki Byakuya with his official seal, and the other was one that Ukitake had slipped him earlier, stating that it was his hollow bounties and lieutenant’s-grade pay for his shinigami-daiko status.

“Oh. Oh, my. My apologies shinigami-san. I believe this will do fine.” She nearly fainted, picking up the card from Byakuya. Ichigo shrugged and pocketed his pay card. The other had been a holiday gift from Byakuya and he was honestly surprised when he found that it hadn’t been lost. “And who may I say the bill is from?”

“Kurosaki Ichigo and Masaki.” If she was pale before, she was nearly faint now. Ichigo shrugged, not getting what the big deal was

“Kurosaki-san… as in the ryoka and hero of the winter war?”

Ichigo nodded, “I don’t know about hero, but I did help some.” It was weird, hearing that his name was known outside of the Seireitei. And being called a hero as well, that was blowing it out of proportion.

“Then, please, you need something appropriate to wear, especially for dinners. I’ll give you a good price.” She moved from where she had been packing away the yukata to draw him toward the men’s patterns. “Should we go with a gold tone to draw out your eyes? Or a deep burgundy to give you some color?”

“Ma’am, I just wanted to get my mom something nice. My uniform is fine for me.” It wouldn’t do to lose his temper with Masaki right on the other side of a flimsy curtain.

“Nonsense. Ichigo-chan, you need something nice to wear.” Masaki spoke up, pinching some fabric to feel the texture. “For me, please.” Masaki made eye contact with her son.

3…

2…

1…

“Fine.”

“Wonderful!” Masaki, like her son, practically ignored the lady’s suggestions after giving them a cursory glance. “My boy looks so handsome in black, but it’s such a somber color.” She mused to herself, “You need something a bit… brighter.” She pulled out a white men’s yukata with a pair of bright red and blue stripes around the cuffs and collar.

“It looks like the school uniform.” What he wouldn’t admit is that he already had a shirt that looked similar.

“You’re right, it does, doesn’t it?” She put it down and turned to her son. “It’s been so long; I don’t even know what you like anymore. We talked about your friends, but nothing really about you.” She touched the red strap that crossed his chest, over his heart and eyed the monstrosity strapped to his back. “If you want, we can start with your zanpakutou.”

Ichigo smiled fondly, touching the hilt of his sword. “His name is Zangetsu.”

“Engetsu and Zangetsu, slaying moon and cutting moon. You and your father are more similar than I realized.” Masaki complimented, earning a sour look from her son. “And what about any hobbies, after-school clubs?”

Ichigo shrugged. “I have a part-time job doing odd jobs. This week I’m playing goalie for the university soccer team, next week I’ll probably help Tatsuki teach her women’s defense class. I heard her last one chickened out after dealing with a whole class of ‘five-step disarming’.”

“Oh, My.” Masaki could only imagine how bad the poor man had it that day. “So you never joined any actual clubs.”

Ichigo shook his head. “Too busy at first, then I just ended up helping the clubs when they ask.” And pay a pretty penny, too. “I tried to join the literary club, but they… didn’t want me.” Translation: the one time that he had stepped into the club room, most of the students wet themselves and hid behind the book stacks while one brave student, he assumed it was the president, cut him off and gave him directions to the gym that a two-year-old could follow. Ichigo wisely ignored the ‘delinquent’ barb he heard when he closed the door. Walking away, Ichigo shrugged, it looked like they had never picked up an actual novel in their collective lives unless it had pictures in it anyway.

“Ah, hobbies?” Masaki asked, feigning being casual while scanning for something Ichigo would like.

“Does fighting Hollows count?” He asked, receiving a withered look from his mother. Turning to look at the racks himself, Ichigo spoke like he was embarrassed. “I like to read Shakespeare.” He pulled out an azure yukata, to see that it had light blue crescents the size of his palm and white pin dots sewn in to look like stars.

“That one is nice.” Masaki complimented, taking it from her son’s arms and held it up. “It’s not too bright, and the moon theme is very poetic. I think you should try it on.”

“Not without hakama.” Ichigo consented, pulling a light blue pair, a similar shade to the moons, with white ties. After declining assistance as politely as he could, he changed quickly before stepping back out. “This’ll do.” He tugged on the ties to make sure they were straight.

“I think it looks lovely.” Masaki smiled, smoothing his collar and overlapping front panels. “And I’ve always admired Shakespeare as well. Maybe you could perform a scene for me one day.”

He grasped her hands briefly and stepped back to the fitting rooms. “Maybe.” he gave a shy smile. “I’m going to change back into my uniform now.”

“He is such a handsome boy. Why do you allow him to dye his hair such an unnatural color?” The assistant asked, finishing wrapping Masaki’s school uniform.

“I would have you know,” Masaki’s posture stiffening, “That that is the same color he has had since the day he was born.” Turning around, she gave the other woman a look, “I believe that we are finished for today. Please add the men’s yukata and hakama to the bill and we will be on our way.” The patroness shot a murderous side-glare at her assistant, but bowed politely.

“As you wish. You would not wish to look at our hand-bags and accessories while we wait?”

“No, thank you. Your kimono are lovely, but I believe we would _clash_ if we were to remain any longer.” Smiled sweetly, but her eyes were hard. She knew that her son had taken enough grief about his hair as a child and was dismayed to find that it continued still.

“Mom, its okay.” Ichigo sighed, adjusting his red strap, “I’m used to it by now. Besides, half the people that matter, their hair is weirder than mine!” He commented with a half-laugh, bringing out the clothes before quickly folding them properly and handing them to the assistant. “Could you please deliver these and the yukata to the Kuchki manor? And make sure that they know to put them in my room. We have a few more things to take care of before then.”

“Hai, shinigami-san,” The assistant demurred, keeping her eyes downcast as she took the clothing. “As an apology for my rudeness, I will deliver these myself.”

Nodding, Ichigo thanked the red girl and turned to Masaki. “Ready to go Mom? We still need to find a visiting gift.” As they left, Masaki asked what type of gift they were looking for. “Anything Chappy or Ambassador Seaweed.” Ichigo said with a slight grimace, “ _or markers,_ ” He muttered, spotting a shop dedicated to the bunny. “You can go in, I’ll wait out here.” He muttered, fiddling with his strap.

“Ichigo?” Masaki turned to her son, and he gave her his pay card. “You know it’s not very brave of you to send your mother in to buy something for your friend.”

“Please?” He ignored the ‘brave’ comment. “If there are markers, get them. If not, Rukia likes anything Chappy-related.”

“It seems like you know this Rukia girl pretty well, Ichigo. You act like you’re more familiar with her than ‘just a liaison’.” She giggled, as Ichigo lightly pushed her toward the door. “You know, Isshin acted the same way before we started dating.”

“Mom!” he warned through her giggling, continuing to push.

“You know, denial is the first stage in acceptance.” She called back, finally ducking into the store. Backing off to the other side of the street, Ichigo tried not to feel completely out of place waiting for his mother to re-emerge from the themed store. Where was she? It felt like it was taking forever.

Eventually (more like ten minutes later), Masaki walked up to her son, carrying a bag that was considerably larger than a new set of markers. “Mom… what did you get?”

“Markers.” Masaki commented flippantly, “Oh, and something that she might like for her birthday from you. When _is_ her birthday, anyway?”

“Mom!” He dug into the bag, indeed finding the markers (fifty-two count plus eight free scented) and a large blue Chappy plush, holding an equally-large detachable strawberry plush/pillow. “Byakuya’s going to kill me.” H whispered to himself, “Mom, you have to return it.”

Masaki shook her head and hummed, enjoying her son’s plight. “The store has a no-return policy.”

“Then you keep it. I am _not_ giving that to Rukia.”

“And why not, young man?”

“Because it’s embarrassing!” Ichigo came as close to a whine as he ever would. “And Byakuya would kill me if I gave his sister something so, so… Personal!” Ichigo started to walk away, heading in the general direction of the noble houses of district one.

“Well, I think it’s adorable either way.” Masaki cooed, hugging the bag briefly before following after her son. “And if you can’t be man enough to give your girlfriend something personalized, then I will have to give it to her instead.” He didn’t say a thing after that, but the expression on his face let her know that she had most definitely won this round.

 


	3. Dinner Surprises

Arriving at the Kuchiki manor, Ichigo was stopped by two guards that he hadn’t seen before. “State your name and purpose, Shinigami.” The one on the right stated, looking bored and distinctly unimpressed.

“Kurosaki Ichigo and Masaki.” Ichigo returned the bored look with a challenge, “We were invited to dinner by Kuchiki Byakuya.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” the left guard spoke after a moment of stare-down, “but we were told to admit no one tonight. The dinner in honor of the new Juugobantai Taicho is not to be interrupted.”

“Oh, for the love of!” Ichigo growled, palming his face. “Has the Juugobantai Taicho shown up yet? And how will you recognize him when he comes?”

“That’s classified information, sir.”

“I’m sure it is, but until then, as much as I hate to admit it, I was _invited_ to the dinner for the new Juugobantai Taicho.” Ichigo was trying a new tactic –to be calm and ask- for at least his mother and to set a good example for any passing-by shinigami, but this was getting ridiculous. He released the control he had on his reiatsu, letting it whip around him in his growing ire.

“I thought there were only thirteen squads?” Masaki asked, not blinking as she was buffeted by the stray power.

“Officially, there are.” Ichigo started as the door swung open from the inside with Rukia on the other side in a formal kimono.

“You’re late Ichigo.” They shared a scowl, “And where’s your haori?”

“I’m late because these idiots,” Ichigo thumbed toward the guy on the left, “wouldn’t let me in. Said something about a dinner in honor of the Juugobantai Taicho and I wasn’t allowed in.” he spoke with a tone of sarcasm, following Rukia into the manor proper and dragging Masaki along after. “And I left it at home since I didn’t feel like wearing it.”

“You Idiot!” Rukia turned and gave Ichigo’s shin a swift kick.

“What was that for midget?” he yelled, gripping his shin and blinking pain-tears out of his eyes.

“What do you think it’s for? You should be proud to wear that haori!”

“It’s a leash.”

“It’s an honor!” Rukia rebuffed, winding up to kick his other shin before they got too far in. Stepping up, Masaki dug out the package of markers.

“Hello. You must be Kuchiki Rukia. It’s an honor to meet you.” She spoke cheerfully, holding out the package. “My Ichigo-chan has told me that you’re his liaison?” Ichigo choked at the diminutive ‘chan’ and stepped from between the two women.

“Ah, yeah.” He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “Mom, this is Kuchiki Rukia. Midget, this is my mom-“

“Masaki! It’s wonderful to finally meet you!” Rukia turned on the charm, easily accepting the package of markers. It was sure that she would greatly enjoy them later tonight. “I heard so much about you from Isshin-san and Ichigo!” Masaki was flattered, but the obviously faked cheer rubbed her like fine-grained sandpaper, but she decided to play along anyway.

“I wish I could say the same, but Ichigo-chan only found me earlier today when he was with Juusanbantai Taicho. Now, what is this about a dinner for the squad fifteen captain? If we’re disturbing that, we can always have dinner another time.”

“Yes, what a good idea! Let’s go!” Ichigo perked up, grabbing his mother and pulling her along. To have upped security enough that the guards didn’t even know the ‘Ryoka’s’ face, this was more than a simple dinner with Rukia and her brother.

“Ichigo, stop that!” The smaller woman hissed, frustrated.

“You told me that it was going to be a small dinner!”

“It… was.” She squirmed, not meeting the red head’s eye.

“Was?” he narrowed his eyes, “So what happened?”

“The clan elders.” Rukia fidgeted. “Nii-san _had_ to tell them, Ichigo, and then, well…” She trailed off.

“…How many?” He sighed, steeling himself for an even more unsavory dinner than he had originally anticipated.

“…What?” Rukia was shocked. She had expected Ichigo to fly off the handle and leave completely, not resign himself to actually attending the dinner in his honor.

“How many people are here for dinner?” He asked patiently, starting to walk to ‘his’ guest room. “Either way,” He shook his head, “I’m glad that Mom made me get something appropriate.”

“Something ‘appropriate’ would be your haori.” Rukia muttered darkly, smoothing her kimono under the obi with a finger. “At least one person from each of the noble families are coming, including Kasumioji-san and Kuukaku-san, so there’s at least twenty people, plus the Kuchiki elders.”

“So… A lot.” Ichigo muttered with no small amount of sarcasm as he slid open the shoji to his room. Spotting the package from the kimono shop, he slipped into the changing room. “And let me guess,” he continued talking while he changed behind the screen, “I have to make nice and be polite to all of them.”

“If I understand what is happening here, that would be for the best, Ichigo.” Masaki nodded, “And I know that I taught you actual manners, not what I’ve seen this afternoon.” Ichigo ducked his head shyly, covering the move by adjusting the ties on his hakama before stepping out.

“How do I look?” He asked after a moment. Rukia was silent, staring at this noble-house stranger with Ichigo’s hair.

“I…” Masaki smirked, seeing the ‘younger’ woman’s tied tongue.

She nudged the girl, “My son cleans up nice, doesn’t he?” Rukia nodded, mouthing ‘Kaien-dono’ before snapping out of it and turning away with a blush.

“Nii-sama said to wait here until a servant comes to get you. I’ll make sure to tell him that you brought your mother and to send a servant that knows you. He wants to introduce you to everyone at once.” Rukia told the shoji screen, a hand on the dip used to pull the door closed. She spared a glance over her shoulder when it felt like her blush had cooled down enough and gave Ichigo a warning look. “Please, Ichigo, behave yourself.”

The boy nodded. “I’ll try.” With a small smile, Rukia closed the door and left. Sighing in frustration, Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, spiking it even more as he internalized a mild curse word.

“Ichigo, is there something you wish to tell me, or do the Kuchiki isolate _all_ their dinner guests?” Masaki asked, her brow furrowing in contemplation for a moment as she stashed the Chappy bag in a corner.

He winced, caught in his lie of omission. It’s not like he actively hid his ‘promotion’ from her, but more like he didn’t want to admit it to himself. What was he supposed to say; ‘hey mom, glad I found ya, but guess what? I’m a captain now!’ Yeah, _that_ would have turned out well. He ran a hand through his hair again and touched Zangetsu’s hilt, absently commanding the sword to revert to its’ sealed state disguised as a pair of sunglasses and slid them into his sleeve.

“Tonight was _supposed_ to be just Byakuya, Rukia and me.” Ichigo started out, opening a shoji to the porch facing one of the many Kuchiki gardens and sat down on the edge.

“I, not me,” she corrected absently, joining her son, “and I got that already.”

“What Rukia didn’t tell me is that, for some reason, the Kuchiki elders have taken an interest in me.”

“So the dinner-“

Ichigo nodded, “Is for me.” He slumped against the support pole he sat by.

“Then you’re-“ Masaki suspected, but needed her son to confirmed it.

“The new Juugobantai Taicho. Responsible for the spiritually aware in Karakura-cho while I’m still alive. When I die,” Ichigo shrugged, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I get shoved into at least a lieutenant’s seat in the regular Thirteen.”

“Oh!” It was a surprise, but Masaki took it well, “does your Father know?”

“Yeah, the old man knows. He’s also the one that told me that I don’t have to wear the haori everywhere if I don’t want to. It’s only required at meetings and during battle.”

“And when your girlfriend demands it of you.” Masaki smirked.

“Rukia’s not…!” Ichigo jumped up, startled.

“I never said anything about Kuchiki-chan being your girlfriend now, did I?” Masaki had a catty look on her face the likes he had seen on Rangiku when she was planning something. “But if she was, she seems the perfect girl to keep you in line when you misbehave.”

“Mom!” He tried to protest, but the words stuck in his throat. “Rukia is nakama,” _and can’t be anything else_ , he thought silently.

“Hmm…” She didn’t say anything, but she wasn’t blind either. She saw how the two looked and interacted together; how they were both a little rough on the surface, but there was genuine care and affection in their eyes. And when Ichigo talked about her, there was a light and an intimate knowledge that only happened when two were very close to each other. All that really concerned her was the forced-polite mask that the girl had easily slipped on in front of a ‘stranger’. If she could, she would like to speak to her in private, without masks, to, at the very least, see if her son’s affections were returned.

A knock came from the door, startling Masaki out of her reverie. “Kurosaki-sama,“ A girl bowed in the doorway, “I have been sent to retrieve you.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Ichigo bowed his head minutely before standing up and giving her a small, relieved, smile. He recognized the girl from the first time he had stayed at the Kuchiki manor, down to her purple-and-pink sakura petal-printed kimono.

“And Kurosaki-dono,” She bowed to Masaki as well, “We have made sure to place an extra setting for you as well. Please follow me.” She gestured out the door, keeping her eyes lowered and her voice as unobtrusive as possible. The two followed and quickly arrived outside one of the larger dining halls. “Please wait here, I will announce you to Kuchiki-sama.” And with that, she silently slipped into the hall.

Not a moment later, they were beckoned into the hall by Byakuya’s cool voice. Sliding the door open fully, Ichigo allowed his mother to enter first and be whisked away to her assigned seat before stepping in fully. Bowing deeply to the room, he then bowed to Byakuya as well. “Thank you for inviting me to dinner tonight. Although this is a larger turnout than I anticipated, I am glad that everyone is well enough to attend.” He turned back to the room in general and gave a polite smile as he spotted Ukitake sitting by Shunsui. Bowing once again, Ichigo took the last empty seat by Byakuya and sat down under the scrutiny of who he assumed were the clan elders.

“Hmm, so even and uncultured child can feign manners when necessary, Kurosaki ‘Taicho’.” he wasn’t sure if it was this use of Ichigo’s newly-minted title or the slight ribbing from Byakuya, but he settled himself down for a long, stressful dinner.

Down the room, Masaki and Yoruichi were giving each other broad grins. “Ma-chan, it’s so good to see you again! Where were you hiding?”

“Yu-chan! Long time, no see!” she gave the were-cat and enthusiastic hug. “You’re looking as lovely as ever.”

“As are you. That Kimono is beautiful on you.” Yoruichi tittered, of all things; using a fan she obviously stole from Urahara to cover her mouth demurely.

“Thank you. Would you believe Ichigo-chan picked it out for me? And this morning I was only thinking about my Kido test at the academy.”

“Oh? Who would have known that boy had some fashion sense in him after all.” Yoruichi and Masaki laughed before the cat raised her voice enough to be heard a few seats down… not that everyone couldn’t hear her perfectly well in the first place. “Oi, Ichigo, why don’t you ever get anything pretty for me?” She whined, failing at hiding her mischievous grin.

Ichigo looked up from the miso soup that was on his tray and blinked like he hadn’t heard a thing. “I didn’t think you’d want anything from me. Besides, Uryuu is the one to ask if you want something ‘pretty.’ And it’s not like I’ve ever seen you in anything more elaborate than that orange sweater before.” He muttered the last part so only the Kuchiki siblings could hear and silently agree. Yoruichi, on her part, was actually wearing a black kimono with orange and indigo swirls and a gold obi to match her eyes. She, for once, looked like the noble princess she was raised to be.

“Yes, but a little token of appreciation for your godmother every once in a while would be nice, don’t you think?” Masaki spoke, giving her son an expectant look.

Ichigo deadpanned, swallowing back any number of surprised words- the gaze of the clan elders and nobles he hadn’t met before weighed his tongue down- before he settled with an “Oh, I didn’t know.”

“I would have thought Isshin,” Ichigo shook his head. “Kisuke-“ A raised eyebrow and a teenager’s ‘really, are you stupid’ look, “Your godmother would have told you.”

“Don’t look at me. I thought the boys had told him.” Yoruichi held up a hand in defense. “Although, I did get the guitar for you on your thirteenth.” Ichigo gave another blank look.

“If it’s any consolation, Shihoin-san, Ichigo-kun plays beautifully.” Ukitake spoke, having listened in on to the ‘main’ conversation.

Ichigo flushed, “I’m not that good. Thank you for the guitar, Yoruichi- _baa-san_.” He smirked at her flustered face and dipped his head in a small bow.

“Ichigo-kun-“

“Kurosaki-Taicho.” Ichigo found himself pulling a ‘Hitsugaya-Taicho’, much to the amusement of the Taicho in the room.

“Yes _Kurosaki-Taicho_ ,” The elder that he corrected was not amused. “What are your plans now that you’ve been given such an _illustrious_ title?” Elder Fu-Manchu gave the boy a sour look and his heart pounded like in battle for a moment.

Ichigo bit down an apathetic shrug but refused to turn his eyes away from the heavy stares coming from the row of Kuchiki elders. “Immediately? I’m going to finish high school. After that, I’m going to live my human life, however long that is, and train.”

The elders shared a silent conversation before elder Babyface, the youngest on the board, spoke the next question. “Does the title mean nothing to you? Do you dare to make a mockery of the title that many shinigami have fought, and died for?”

If the board wanted to rile him up, it worked, but he managed to do nothing more harmful than a brief glare before mentally taking a step back. He knew that they were digging to find faults, especially in his temper, that seventeen months ago, would have led to his political downfall. “The title of Taicho, I respect. Every man and woman that I know that honorably bear the title, has earned it many times over. The title itself means to have the power and knowledge to protect those around you, not just those in your squad, and to help them grow in their own right. And at this point, I know that I do not live up to that standard, that’s why I didn’t wear the haori I was given today.” He stole a side-glance at Rukia, who gave a small smile in response. “Eventually though, I do plan to make the title a reality and wear the haori with pride.”

“You took a speech class, didn’t you?” Rukia asked under her breath. First it was the Ganju speech, and now this one. More than likely, by next weekend, everyone will know what Ichigo said.

“Maybe.” Ichigo whispered back teasingly, “Or maybe I’ve had way too much time to think lately.”

“You, _thinking_ , “ Rukia whispered in mock horror, “It’s the end of the world as we know it!” Ichigo snorted and gave a half smirk.

“Too late for tha-“

“Are we interrupting something?” Elder Fu-Manchu growled out, immediately snapping Rukia and Ichigo out of their little world.

“Sorry Ryounosuke-sama.” Rukia immediately demurred, sitting back and lowering her eyes. A pinch to his thigh had Ichigo murmuring similar sentiments, though insincerely.

“Now, if you two are finished, we have one last question, although it seems clearly redundant at this point,” he gave the young not-couple a stern look. “What are your intentions with our heir? Do you intend to continue to sully her reputation by your very presence or will you go through the proper channels to court her?” Ichigo and Rukia both invented new definitions for the color ‘strawberry red’ at that.

“I… have no clue what you’re talking about.” Ichigo spoke with a bewildered look. “If this is about being friends, I wasn’t aware that I was not allowed to be friends with nobles without permission.”

The elders gave Ichigo an equally blank look. “Though you are not of noble blood, you are of sufficient rank for the Kuchiki family’s approval for courtship.” Elder Buzz-cut spoke. “It would be a significant advantage for the Kuchiki family to have… more permanent ties to the lauded ‘Hero of the Winter War’. Would you not agree?”

“Waitaminute!” Ichigo gave an unmanly squeak, “Are you talking about _marriage_?” The elders gave an unimpressed nod and Rukia turned ten whole new shades of red. “I’m not old enough to drink, let alone even think of marriage- _ow_!” Rukia pinched Ichigo hard on the thigh, shutting him up before he said something stupid, well, _more_ stupid than what he had already said.

“Ichigo,” she murmured lowly, “You’re allowed to drink once you enter the Gotei thirteen. And Rurichiyois married and she was twelve, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. I still think that’s too young.” Ichigo murmured back before turning back to the elders with a serious face. “While I would like to da-court Rukia, I would have liked to renew our friendship before bringing up the subject of even seeing each other on a personal level. And then, if I am not mistaken, it would be under Byakuya-Taicho’s blessing, not the Kuchiki board of elders. Were we would continue, since he is next of kin in lieu of a parental figure or a blood-related sibling. But this would all be after Rukia agrees to be courted in the first place. I will not force her into a position that she doesn’t wish to be in.” Ichigo could feel Rukia’s eyes, but was too afraid to even glance her way to read them. “I would hope that she would be given the opportunity to marry for the sake of her heart, not what political status her future husband would grant her.”

The silence following was stifling. To dare to mention a word like ‘heart’ and ‘political status’ in the same sentence was unheard of. With a grin only seen on the likes of the Cheshire cat, Kukaku leaned into Yoruichi. “Kid’s got balls,” she whispered, but in the silence, everyone heard her. “Knew that when you brought him to me Yu-chan, but damn!”

Yoruichi grinned right back “I forgot. Kukaku, this is Kurosaki Masaki. Masaki, this is Shiba Kukaku.” She introduced the ladies on her left and right.

“Masaki, eh? You’re our Isshin’s reason for skipping right out of Seireitei and going into hiding, aren’t you?” Masaki gave a rueful smile and shook her head.

“I’m not the reason why he left, but I’m part of the reason he stayed after his powers were sealed.”

“They were sealed?” Ukitake couldn’t help but to cut in. “We were told he was killed when he went on that mission.” His brows furrowed over his smooth face, starting to understand the pieces to that long-forgotten puzzle.

“He nearly did if Yu-chan and Kisuke hadn’t found him in time.” Masaki smiled in thanks at Yoruichi.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Kouraku asked, for once setting down his saké saucer.

“I was in exile.” Yoruichi smirked, “and I still am, technically. And who would take the word of an exile over a _trusted captain_ anyway?”

“Isshin told me about it once.” Masaki murmured, her fingertips holding her chin in thought. “He said that he and another captain were asked to inspect a rumor in Karakura about some hollows disappearing and the next thing he remembered was waking up in Kisuke’s guest room.”

Ukitake doubted it, but it was a standard question that he had to ask: “Was Isshin attacked by a hollow?”

Yoruichi snorted. “His soul chan and soul sleep was cut. We all know that’s a high-level shinigami-specific ability.”

Ukitake nodded, sparing a glance over at Ichigo before asking his next question. The boy was tense, listening attentively to his mother’s… conversation while feigning interest in his meal. His energy was coiled tightly so that he wouldn’t affect his mother and those around the table, but it was starting to lash out like fibers on a snapping rope. “Do,” Ukitake took a breath, preparing for the backlash, “Do you know the name of the person who attacked your husband?”

“I believe Isshin said it could only be the captain that he was on the mission with. Ai-something. Though why someone with the word ‘love’ in their name-“

SNAP!

If it wasn’t the deafening sound of a broken chopstick, it was the sudden, if brief, whirlwind of reiatsu that sucked the air out of the room that drew all eyes to Ichigo. Concentrating on his breathing (and minor actual reiatsu control), Ichigo put down his one remaining chopstick and stood up. “Excuse me for a moment.”

Giving the boy a brief stare, Byakuya nodded. “Please limit your damage. You cannot yet afford the repair costs.” Ichigo nodded and turned to leave.

“Ichigo, honey, what’s wrong?” Masaki asked, concerned with her son’s strange behavior.

“Don’t worry, Momma, I’ll be back in a little while.” He grinned brightly, if not falsely, and turned to leave.

With a firm snap, the door slid shut behind Ichigo, obscuring his tense form from the nobles, but not his riatsu. “Was it something I said?” Masaki asked quietly.

Varying expressions of ‘not me’ crossed the nobles’ faces as she looked around for an answer before Yoruichi let out a great sigh and slumped into her serving tray with her elbows propping her up. “I guess they haven’t taught you much for ‘current events’ yet, have they?”

Masaki shook her head, “What does that have to do with my son?”

“Everything, Masaki-san,” Ukitake spoke lowly, “Your son is a hero.”

Shunsui nodded in agreement. “Without him and his sacrifices, I doubt the war would have been over as quickly as it was.”

“What war? What did my son do this time?”

Yoruichi sighed. “Maybe we should start from the beginning. Rukia, do you wish to go first?”

She shook her head, blushing. “No, thank you.”

Elder Fu-Manchu scoffed. “You don’t wish to speak about the dishonor you put the Kuchiki family though by giving a _human child_ your shinigami power? Or that he retained such power, leaving you helpless, and, in your powerless state, he overtook your most basic duties?”

Rukia flushed. “Ichigo could see me already, and had enough power on his own to break the Bakudo I set on him before the hollow attacked. I was injured and the hollow had grabbed one of the twins.” Masaki suppressed a gasp of horror, clamping down on what she wanted to say. Of course the girls turned out fine from the attack, Ichigo said that they were both healthy earlier. “Even before I gave him my power, he was trying to save us from the hollow.” Rukia had to look down for a moment; she was getting too emotionally involved in her storytelling. “It was either allowing Ichigo to become involved by giving him a portion of my power, or forcing him to watch his family be killed and likely be eaten, along with myself. I intended to only give him a fraction of my power, not everything short of my life force.”

Masaki nodded gently in understanding. “Like a moist sponge. Ichigo was born with power which Isshin sealed most of it when he was born. We were going to actively start training him when he turned sixteen. I’m assuming that when you gave him your power, you likely broke or severely weakened the seal. So he’s a hero for saving you?”

Yoruichi smirked, “Not exactly, but Rukia definitely thinks so, especially after he rescued her from execution.” She purred, giving the girl a teasing look.

“Execution?” Masaki was shocked, “what for?”

“For giving Ichigo my powers and not reporting the incident.” She gave everything to not mumble the sentence into her kimono sleeve.

“Which is usually punished by a severe reprimand and temporary suspension of duties.” Ukitake took over, believing Rukia had enough scrutiny. “And the human’s powers are permanently sealed if he has any remaining. Byakuya-kun was correct by sealing Ichigo-kun’s power, since we assumed at the time that he was a normal human that got power-hungry.”

“So he then broke the seal again and rescued Rukia-chan.” Masaki summarized nicely, playing with the strawberry on her dessert before eating it.

Yoruichi grimaced, downing the saké she had been served in one go. “There is no going back once the soul chain and soul sleep are cut, only moving on.” Masaki gasped. Isshin had told her what the technique entailed and how slow it was to heal. “You should be proud of your boy and what he will go through for those he cares about.”

“I am. And whatever my little boy did I have no doubt that you and Kisuke had a hand in it.” Yoruichi gave Masaki a wry smile.

“He would have figured a way to do it eventually. As for our part in regaining his powers so soon after being sealed… That’s something Ichigo would like to tell you about whenever he’s ready.” While being a Visored was generally accepted among the higher ranks in the court squads, it was also not accepted to speak about it in open conversation such as the Kuchiki dinner party, where ears were open and scrutiny ran rampant. Half of the nobles attending were already leery of the boy, and to call attention to his hollow-like abilities was just asking for untoward attention. “What was impressive though, was that he achieved Bankai as well before rescuing her.”

“I thought that would have been something recent…?” her first day on Zanjutsu class, the sensei had lectured about the different sword types and what it took to achieve Shikai and Bankai. The teacher mentioned that it took an average age of one hundred or older before even thinking about Bankai.

Yoruichi shook her head. “If he would have been put through academy classes, it would have likely taken him longer, but he would have more than his physical and sword skills to rely on.”

Masaki frowned in concentration, showing everyone exactly where her son got it from. “But he was doing so well when he was little. He didn’t know the spells by name, but Isshin and I taught him the first five spells at least before I… died. We treated them like games.” Her frown smoothed out in contemplation, “How did you try to teach him, _did_ you try to teach him?”

Yoruichi blinked. “Isshin never told me. I heard that Tessai tried to test him with Kido one afternoon, but I never heard how the testing turned out.”

“I believe Ichigo-kun spoke of that incident the other day.” Ukitake spoke up, “It was both former captain Tessai and former lieutenant Hachigen that tested him and the results were… reported unfavorable for kido.” Rukia couldn’t completely withhold her snort of laughter, earning her a glower from the elders.

“Yes, but then he performed that wonderful manipulation to replace the string on his instrument. The end result was very realistic and done with no real concentration on his part. I believe that if he was to get the correct instructor, he could become quite proficient.”

“He needs work on his control.” Kukaku snorted. “He has a start and luckily most of the people in here could endure his little _flare up_ , but he has no endurance for it. Give him to me for a month and I can beat it into him; that seems to be the way to teach him.” Kukaku snorted, tossing back her shot of saké.

“So much violence!” Masaki’s eyes were wide in shock before turning away demurely. “Then again, that’s pretty much how Isshin and I taught him too.” She muttered. Rukia couldn’t hold her snort of laughter this time. “Ichigo and Isshin-san still spar every morning before breakfast, Masaki-san. Was that part of how you would teach him?”

“Well, yes and no. What the boys did is nothing so formalized as to be called a spar. Isshin always insisted on waking the boy up with a tackle as soon as he started formalized karate classes. It’s not like he had enough bruises already from Tatsuki-chan.” Masaki pouted, recalling just how many times she had patched the two of them up when Ichigo was lucky enough to get in a strike.

“Don’t worry Masaki-san. The only thing that’s changed is that Ichigo tends to win more.” Rukia reassured with a smile.

Masaki gave a decisive nod. “Good. My dear husband deserves it for all the antics he put us through.” Closing her eyes for a moment, she cast her senses for Ichigo’s signature. “Speaking of antics, what has my darling son gotten up to? He’s taking his time already, and this party is for him, is it not?”

“Nii-sama?” Rukia shifted to stand up and received Byakuya’s silent permission. “Masaki-san, I’ll go look for Ichigo. No doubt he got lost or something.” Rukia bowed her way out, not blaming Ichigo for not coming back yet either. She had about enough of the scrutinizing stares of the elders and the faceless nobles that didn’t know anything, but dared to pass judgment on someone that had saved their very way of life. At least the main dinner party was now over and the less curious were slowly trickling away. The only real problem now was the gossipmongers that were hanging on to their every word. And the elders! What right did they have to bring up mar- to talk about marria-… and in front of strangers too!

Walking down the silent corridors, Rukia turned red enough to outshine Ichigo’s namesake fruit. And the way that he spoke his intentions! _Renew our friendship… Byakuya-taichou’s blessing… after Rukia agrees… marry for the sake of her heart._ If he would have asked, she would have said yes right there. It was, hands down, the most romantic thing he had ever said. He was, by no means, Minamoto Yoshitsune, but in his own way Ichigo could be very romantic, especially when he didn’t mean to be.

Stepping off the back porch and into Hisana-nee’s garden, Rukia spotted a faintly glowing orb hovering around the wisteria bush in one corner. “What the…?” She had seen spirit orbs in the human world with souls that didn’t have enough power to maintain shape, but she had never seen anything close to the same in the spirit world. The orb dipped and wove between the branches, seeming to pulse with a steady heartbeat. Stepping closer, she spotted a dozen more perched on the surrounding bushes, casting a gentle glow on someone lying down in the grass.

“Hey, Rukia.” Ichigo murmured, lying on his back with one hand pillowed behind his head and the other batting at an orb like it was a dying helium balloon. “Are they gone yet?” He spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb the peaceful atmosphere he had created.

“Some of them are. You missed dessert though. It was strawberries and sweet crème.” She spoke with a small amount of amusement, curiously poking at one of the orbs. It skittered away and popped like a small firework. “What are these anyway?”

Ichigo sat up and shrugged, drawing all the orbs toward himself and into one bigger orb. “Mom called them wisps, Xcution called it bringer light. You and everyone else would call it a nameless kido.” He shrugged again and looped his arms around the basketball-sized orb, handing it to Rukia, where it promptly exploded into an array of lights, drawing a short laugh from both of them.

“What you said earlier…” Rukia could feel the awkward tension return as Ichigo led Rukia back to the porch. At least in the dark they couldn’t see the others’ blush.

“Take it how you like, but I meant it. It should be your choice.” She didn’t know the amount of courage a simple peck on the cheek took, but Ichigo immediately jumped up into the porch after. “Since dinner is over, I should probably take Mom back to her dorm. Night, Rukia.” He nodded and left.

“Goodnight Ichigo.” She murmured back, long after he left her sight. Whatever he had been doing during the past year and a half made him more contemplative. Just as passionate when it mattered, but… almost calmer in a sense. It was as if he had finally come home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minamoto Yoshitsune: Ok, you’re asking ‘who the heck is Minamoto Yoshitsune’ and I don’t blame you. I didn’t want to use a reference like Fabio because, well, Rukia wouldn’t know who the heck Fabio is. On the other hand Minamoto-san was born in the 10th century to a samurai family. He became famous for his exploits and abilities and his stories eventually became very romantic and the basis for several manga and anime characters today. Being in the Kuchiki clan, Rukia likely spent some time reading romances involving Minamoto-san as part of her classical literature studies. If you want, call him Fabio with a katana.


	4. Whole New World

It had indeed taken until Friday for the passes to clear (Tatsuki’s at least. The twins’ had gone through almost immediately, from what he heard) and Ichigo called up his oldest friend immediately and she came over almost as fast, to Ichigo’s relief. Ever since Sunday night when Ichigo delivered his letter, Isshin had become a handful, bouncing around, trying to be mysterious when one of the girls asked what the matter was. That ended with a wailing session at The Poster, apologizing for being ‘unfaithful’ and that there now was ‘another woman’ and that she had called him out on a date.

“It’s about time he moved on. Its been how many years since Masaki-san died?” Tatsuki huffed, cocking a hip and putting her hand on it.

“… Yeah.” Ichigo reluctantly agreed. _Remember, Ichigo-kun, this is our little secret. I want to surprise your sisters._ They would be surprised, there was no doubt about it. It was just hard in the meanwhile.

“Oi.” Tatsuki squinted at her best friend. “You’re the one that invited us. You could do to be a bit more enthusiastic about it.”

Ichigo shrugged. “It’s more of a surprise for the girls. And I know that you wanted to see what you missed.”

“So this is two birds with the same stone then. So why now?” They had slowly migrated out of the living room and up to Ichigo’s room, where they could speak a bit more freely.

Briefly checking upon his sister’s reiatsu signatures, he relaxed. “I found mom.” He still spoke in hushed tones, despite Karin being down the block and Yuzu down in the kitchen, packing a small bag with snacks and a blanket to sit on for the fireworks.

“You what?!” She attempted to stage whisper, getting into his face.

“Last week.” Ichigo stepped back, sitting on his bed cross-legged. “She was able to retain her memories and went directly to the academy when Grand Fisher was destroyed. She’s a second-year by now.” Getting her answers, Tatsuki sat down backwards on Ichigo’s rolling chair.

“What’s this?” She asked, fingering the fabric hanging on the back of the hair. She could feel the quality in the reishi-made white fabric.

“My, ah, Captain’s cloak.” Ichigo spoke in an embarrassed voice, “they decided that they needed a captain stationed here on a permanent basis and instead of moving someone here, they-“

“Settled you with the job.” Tatsuki was unimpressed, “Haven’t you done enough for them already?”

Ichigo gave her a wry look. “What I have to do isn’t any different than what I did during the war. Fight hollows, train and babysit shinigami that come here. I just have a fancy coat and have to fill out my own reports now.”

Taking the coat off the chair, Tatsuki took a closer look, looking at the black detailing on the outside and the bright red interior. “Oh-ho, what’s this?” She smirked, looking at the lining closer.

“What’s what?” She gave him a look over the collar of his coat and smirked secretly.

“Oh, nothing.” She spoke idly, slipping on the coat for the heck of it. “It suits you. All serious and black and white on the outside and bright on the inside. Complete with little strawberries sewn into the fabric.”

“There’s what!” Ichigo dove and they play-wrestled for the haori for a bit. “I don’t believe you.” He stated, grabbing hold of the collar and gently pulled it off of the smaller girl.

Sure enough, when Ichigo looked inside, there were little stylized strawberries woven into the fabric with red-on-red so that nobody could see them unless they knew what they were looking for and the weave caught the light at just the right angle.

“They’re dead.” Ichigo deadpanned, not surprised enough to be angry. “Whoever decided to put _strawberries_ on my haori is dead.”

“Isn’t it a requirement to be _dead_ to live in the _Soul Society_?” Tatsuki asked back, just as drily, “So your threat is moot, is it not?”

“Smart alec.” He spoke with a fond conviction. “Speaking of, Tas…” He used the nickname he had for her since they were four, “If it’s allowed… and if you want, even though you’re still alive… You’ve had my back the longest…”

“Just spit it out already!” Tatsuki growled, exasperated with Ichigo’s inane babbling.

“I won’t be able to be in the world of the living all the time, so would you like to be my lieutenant and protect everyone when I can’t?” Sometime during his speech, Ichigo had gone down on one knee to read Tatsuki better, and took hold of her hand when she went to swing it at him. In reality, it was just his hidden romantic side coming out.

“What are you talking about? I thought Rukia was your Lieutenant.” Tatsuki took back her hand and sat at the desk chair, crossing her arms and leaning back.

Giving a half-smile, half-grimace, Ichigo sat back against his bed and propped his elbows on his knees. “I won’t lie to you, if she wasn’t Ukitake’s I would have taken her, Byakuya be damned. She deserves to be a lieutenant.”

“What about Chad then? He had your back during all of your adventures.”

Ichigo nodded. “He did. And will always have my back, but that’s not exactly what I’m looking for.” Tatsuki opened her mouth and he shook his head. “Inoue doesn’t have it either, and there’s no way in hell I’m asking Ishida. I need someone to take the leadership role if something happens and I’m not there to protect our nakama or the twins. Honestly I’m surprised that your power never manifested when the others’ did. You’ve been around me the longest.”

“Infected by your out-of-control power the longest, you mean.” Tatsuki was unimpressed by his excuse. “I’ve talked to Urahara a few times before, so I know a little about it.” Ichigo was surprised at that. “He thinks it’s _because_ I’ve been around you the longest that I never manifested any active powers. I’ve built up a sort-of spiritual immunity to you. Like the twins. I do have power, since I was able to stay awake when nearly everyone else fell asleep, but otherwise I can’t touch it unless something… happens.” She trailed off with a shrug. At that point, Urahara was vague to the point that she had no clue what he was going on about.

Ichigo nodded. “I figured it was something like that.” Tatsuki gave him an incredulous look and Ichigo gave a defensive one back. “That’s why I want you to be tested like the girls tomorrow. I have a feeling that your power is closer to a shinigami than anything else and once you can access it, you’ll have a bit of power.”

She smirked, “And more control than you.” She snorted. “I’ve always had that over you.” Ichigo gave her a scowl but didn’t argue. Tatsuki had that finesse when fighting that sent most of her opponents to their backs before they knew what hit them, and the power and determination to win if the fight ever went longer.

“So, will you do it?” Ichigo didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic.

“I’ll think about it.” Tatsuki gave a non-committal shrug. “So…. What time are we heading out and what do I need to bring?”

Ichigo shrugged. “I’m thinking we meet at Urahara’s about nine or ten and head out from there using his matter converter. As for stuff to bring, all I can say is wear something comfortable. Hopefully, I want to introduce you to some guys that might give you a challenge.” Tatsuki scoffed. It had been a while since she had been given a real challenge. Nationals didn’t come around near often enough and the judo club boys were just that: boys. Despite what they said, most of them were there for fun, not for anything actually serious. It was painful how easy it was to move up the ranks.

“I’m due for a challenge.”

“I thought you would. There’s this one squad, the eleventh, that specializes in combat. You don’t have a weapon, but more than likely you can scrounge up some unarmed fights without too much effort.”

Tatsuki snorted. “What, do most of the Eleventh fight with huge-ass swords like yours?”

Ichigo gave a lopsided grin. “Naw, unless you piss ‘em off. Most of ‘em have normal-sized Zanpakutou that they spar with.” Tatsuki nodded.

“Tell me more.”

“Hmm…” Ichigo mused chin on his fist. “Zaraki is the Taicho and he’s the only one without a Bankai -a second form- out of the captains. Actually, he doesn’t even have a shikai last I heard. Whenever I stayed there, I’ve only see one girl in the unit and she’s the lieutenant and Kenpachi’s daughter.” He saw the light in Tatsuki’s eye and shook his head. “She looks like she’s eight. I’ve never seen her fight,” The light in her eyes went out, “But I’ve heard stories from some of the unseated officers about her strength and speed. Even if you wanted go spar with her, she’s rather watch.”

“How did an eight-year-old earn a lieutenant then? Or did her father give it to her?” She wouldn’t fight a child, no matter how strong they supposedly were.

“I think Kenpachi gave it to her, yes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she could hold her own if she really needed to. Like you and the dojo.” Ichigo smirked. “Have you had any challenges lately?” It was a joke, really. With being the sensei’s only child, Tatsuki had started Karate almost before she could walk and had quickly risen through the ranks. By the time they could enter competitions, she could flatten most of the other students without breaking a sweat.

“Not any good ones. Couple’a weeks ago this guy from another dojo didn’t believe I was a girl and I had to prove his wrong with my fist, but that’s it. Ah!” Tatsuki snapped, “Dad wanted me to ask if you wanted to participate in the invitational this year. He thinks if we both participate, it might bring in some new students.”

“So its been slow enough that he wants to bring in a _street fighter_ to put on display?” Ichigo leaned back. His last formal lesson at the dojo was back when he was twelve. After finally beating Tatsuki, He left, but between the idiot wannabe street gangs and his father, his skills were as sharp as ever.

“No. Well, yeah, its been slow, but that’s not why he wants you to come back. Apparently Dad saw you at one of your part-time jobs and he said, I quote ‘that boy’s going nowhere fast. He’s wasting his life away doing mediocre crap like that.’ And I agree. Yeah, I know you have your powers back now and everything’s all hunky-dory, but still, it wouldn’t’ hurt to pop in every once in a while, even if its only to say hi.”

Ichigo sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

Tatsuki nodded. It was at least something. “How abut this: I’ll think about being your lieutenant, and you can think on coming back to the dojo.”

Grimacing, he relented. It was only fair, really. “Yeah, ok. I still want you tested tomorrow and I still have to ask if I can make it official.

:: Woah-oh-oh-oh like its News from the Front::

Looking around, Ichigo scrabbled for his phone somewhere in the bottom of his school bag. “Hello… No I didn’t have plans for tonight…. Yeah, I can. What time?” He asked, looking at his alarm clock. “I have plenty of time then. So the idiot didn’t pass his drug exam again, huh?… I’ll see you in a while then.” Tatsuki raised an eyebrow in question and Ichigo shrugged. “Chad’s lead didn’t pass his drug exam, again, so they needed someone to cover for him. Again.” Ichigo scoffed, standing up and grabbing a pre-packed bag with clothes for the concert, the next morning, and toiletries.

“You’ve done this before, huh?” Tatsuki asked, internally impressed that he was getting everything together in nearly no time flat.

“A few, Yeah.” Ichigo grimaced. “It wasn’t so bad at first, here or there, but now its pretty much every concert. Most of the fans probably think I’m the regular lead, not the sub.” Shaking his head, Ichigo did a final check through his bag before shouldering his guitar case. “Wanna come? I don’t think you’ve seen Chad play before, have you?”

“Sure. I just need to call Dad first.” Nodding, Ichigo opened the door and let Tatsuki go first, having already pulled out her phone.

“Tell him that you’re not coming back here tonight. Yuzu hates the smell of smoke in the house. But if you want, we can drop you off at your house after so you can get some sleep.”

Tatsuki nodded. “I can leave early and walk home myself if it gets too- hey Daddy!” The other side picked up and Ichigo went to find his family, but not before giving her a look. Vale Tudo champion or not, she was not walking home alone at that time of night.

“Hey, Dad?” He called, peeking around the door to the TV room. “Chad called and needs me to cover for him, so I’m crashing at his place tonight. So, ah, have fun with your date tomorrow.” Isshin gave his son a big grin and an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

“I will, you can count on that! I’m going on a hot date with a hot woman. With the most seductive pair of-“

“Karin, Yuzu.” Ichigo cut in, turning to his sisters. “After breakfast, we’ll meet at the Urahara Shoten. Sorry I can’t walk over with you.”

“It’s ok, Nii-san, go have fun.” Yuzu looked up from her club project and flashed her brother a smile.

“Yeah,” Karin rolled her eyes and planted her foot in Isshin’s face (“Eyes, I was going to say eyes!”), “Break a leg, Ichi-nii!”

Tatsuki snapped her phone shut and joined the family. “Ready?”

“Yeah. You?”

“As long as I get my homework done and we’re not late for school on Monday, they’re cool.” Nodding, Ichigo led the way out with one last round of goodbyes and good luck.

* * *

“Ichi-nii, you’re late.” Ichigo stumbled into the shoten the next morning, yawning and rubbing the moisture out of his still-wet locks.

“It’s only nine Karin, I still have an hour.” Ichigo protested, slumping against a wall.

“Not when you’re the last one here.” She stated and Ichigo actually looked around the room.

“...Oh.” Aside from the twins, and Tatsuki, Orihime and Chad decided to come along as well.

“My fault.” Chad spoke up, raising his hand. “We got breakfast bentou.” Indeed in his other hand was a small bag with two small boxes and two bottles of juice.

“I guess we can eat later then.” He shot a longing look at his breakfast before turning back to Urahara (whom looked like had a similar case of morning fatigue), “Is everything ready for us then?”

Nodding through a yawn, Urahara nursed his cup of coffee. “All you need is to activate it like a regular senkaimon. The matter converter is automatic. Have fun, good luck girls, and thank you for choosing Urahara Shoten for all of you shinigami needs!” It was a valiant effort for cheer, but he only had a soft pillow on his mind.

Peeling himself off the wall, Ichigo gestured for the others to follow as he slid aside the tatami concealing the entrance to the underground training facility. “Be careful, It’s a long way down.” He cautioned, helping Yuzu onto the ladder. “I’ll follow in a minute.”

“Ichi-nii.” Karin held her brother up, holding out a familiar folded cloak. “Dad said you forgot this.” Grimacing, Ichigo nodded and used his badge to pop out of his human shell before taking the haori and putting it on reluctantly.

“Thanks Karin, I did forget it.”

Karin snorted, reading her brother’s expression instead of his words. “It’s a captain’s cloak like Toushirou’s, isn’t it? If you didn’t want to wear it, hide it better next time Ichi-nii.” Ichigo nodded, walking his sister to the trapdoor.

“I’ll try, now go. I need to talk to Geta-boshi for a minute.” Watching his expression for a minute, Karin finally nodded and started down with the others. Whatever was worrying Ichigo so much he would tell them when he was ready.

When he was sure that Karin was actually going down the ladder, Ichigo picked up his body and laid it on the guest room. “Oi! Geta-boshi.” He spoke softly from the shopkeeper’s door.

“Yes, Ichigo? I something the matter?” Urahara asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“No, not really. I just want to thank you for adjusting my gigai last weekend.”

“Gigai? For what ever are you talking about?” He asked from behind his fan, hiding his flash of panic.

Ichigo snorted, rolling his eyes. “I’m sick of people lying to me about this. And either you or dad started it. I’m dead. I know I died before I saved Rukia and I really don’t care. I’m just glad that the gigai you made from my body has held up this long, but its dying, isn’t it?”

“Its decomposing, yes. Your spirit energy is burning out the energy channels I installed faster than I would have liked.” Ichigo liked getting straight answers and he had found the only time he could get them was when both of them were not awake enough to play games.

“How long?” He kept his voice neutral, not wanting to seem anxious.

“This is what you're really asking about, is it? How long do you have with your nakama and family on this side.” Ichigo nodded reluctantly. “Five years, tops. That is, if you actually learned to control the flow of your energy. But how you’ve going at it, I think you would be lucky to last the next six months.” Taking a steadying breath, Ichigo nodded.

“Anything I can do to make it until graduation?”

“I would suggest staying out of your body as much a possible and leaving it here on your weekends so I can do repairs.” Ichigo nodded and turned to leave. “Oh-ho, this is going to rack up quite the bill!” Urahara chirped, fluttering his fan and hoping to get a rise from the boy.

Ichigo stopped halfway out the door and lowered his head. “Dying always does. And its worth the cost.” He murmured, heading off to where the others waited in the basement.

Dropping his infamous fan onto the table Urahara went back to his coffee. “We all knew it was a risk when everything settled down.” Yoruichi crawled out from under the table in her cat form and propped her head on his knee. “That his body couldn’t take the influx of power when we gave him the power boost this time. It's not like it was just Rukia again.”

“But he didn’t die outright.” Yoruichi couldn’t help the small rumbling purr as Kisuke absently rubbed her favorite spot. “He has time to put his affairs in order before moving on. And that’s more than many can say.”

“During the Ginjo incident, did you see him?” Kisuke whispered absently. “We were going to give him a choice, to become a shinigami again.”

“For him, there never was one.” Yoruichi spoke just as quietly. “And yes, I did. I never believed that someone could nearly kill themselves with just the loss of the will to live.”

“Ichigo is a unique boy, we knew that the day he was born.” Isshin excused himself with a wry grin, Stating that the front door was open. “Rukia had the right idea, if he was given any more time, he would have killed himself. There was no time to give him a choice.”

The other two agreed. “Ichigo is happier dead than he ever was being human.” Yoruichi gave the father a cat-smile, “Watch him when you get there and you’ll see just how well he fits. He was meant to be a shinigami. There’s no doubt abut that.”

“Speaking of which, why didn’t you go with him this time?”

It was an odd light, seeing a cat shrug. “Didn’t feel like it. And what about you? I thought you’d be long gone and off to see Masaki by now.”

Isshin tried to be serious, he really did. “I will, just as soon as I won’t get caught right of the bat. Masaki wanted to keep it a surprise as long as possible.” They could tell that he was excited to see his beloved wife again., but the nervous fiddling with his old captain’s cloak told of his nerves.

Down in the basement, Ichigo caught up with the others by the senkaimon. “Onii-chan?” Yuzu asked, eyes unfocused slightly, “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I just had to talk to Urahara for a minute.” He stepped close to his sister. “How well can you see me Yuzu?” She scrunched up her eyes and tilted her head to the side slightly.

“You’re a little fuzzy at the edges, but I can mostly see you. Like when I look up after studying for a while.” Ichigo nodded. It was better than he expected.

“Good. Are we ready to go then?”

“We were waiting on you Ichigo.” Tatsuki spoke up while Karin rolled her eyes. Nodding, Ichigo took out Zangetsu and stabbed into the middle of the gate. Feeling the tip catch on the invisible lock, he twisted his zanpakutou like a giant key.

“Unlock.” The gate opened into a white and purple void as half a dozen black butterflies flew out. “We have escorts this time, but if something happens, run like mad. Chad?” He nodded toward Yuzu and the gentle giant nodded back. If anything happened, he was to grab Yuzu; the only one that wasn’t trained to deal with the tunnel’s sudden shifts. “Then let's go.” Ichigo entered first, followed by Tatsuki, Orihime, the twins and Chad bringing up the rear.

Stepping out of the other side unscathed, Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief. They were deposited at the main senkaimon gate after an uneventful trek through the precipice world. If he was honest with himself, it was the most definitely _not_ his luck that every time he traveled the dangai, the sweeper decided to make one of its 'random' trips through. Clown-face denied anything to do with the sweeper, but he has doubts that the claims are true.

Looking around, Tatsuki quickly got over her awe, “So, where to Boss?” She snickered when Ichigo gave her a look.

“We’re going to the thirteenth to do your testing, then we’ll figure out where to go after that.” He said with a small shrug. “If we don’t mind splitting up for a little while, I know that Toushirou wouldn’t mind a visit from Karin and you seemed interested in the eleventh yesterday.” Tatsuki gave a half-nod in agreement. “So we’ll just agree to meet up at the hill before fireworks. Then.”

“We should meet up a little before, Onii-san, so we can have snacks before the show starts.” Yuzu piped up, gesturing to her backpack. Ichigo was chagrined about Yuzu’s snacks and being enough or not, but he didn’t want to crush the hopeful expression on her face. It was one thing when Dad had that look, but it was a whole other animal on Yuzu’s face.

Nodding, Chad turned and left. “Oi, where are ya going Chad?” Karin asked, the first to notice Chad leaving.

“Eighth, then Hisagi-fukutaicho’s guitar lesson.” The gentle giant shrugged his guitar case into place over his shoulder and gave the dark twin a thumbs-up before walking off again.

“Oh. Ok.” She blanked, still caught off guard whenever he did something like that. _what a dork_.

“A-ano, I have to get going too.” Orihime danced from one foot to the other and played with a bracelet she was wearing. “I promised to help the SWA with a project.”

Sighing, Ichigo gave a dismissive gesture. “You don’t have to stay with us. Go have fun and tell Matsumoto that I’ll bring Karin over when we’re done.”

Nodding, Orihime launched herself at Tatsuki for a brief hug before stepping back. “Don’t worry, ‘Hime, I’ll tell you what happened tonight.” Tatsuki gave a reassuring smile, ignoring the flutter of nerves that exploded in her belly.

“Ok, good luck!” And with that Orihime peeled off to wherever the meeting was being held this time.

“I guess we should get going then.” Ichigo gestured for the girls to follow before internally cringing. Chad still had his bentou and he’d likely have to go get it later, probably while the girls were being tested.

Taking a route he knew well, Ichigo managed to avoid most of the people that would delay them. “Oi! Ichigo!” Except Renji.

“Yo.” Greeting the lieutenant, he made to pass him.

“What are you doing here so early?” Whatever task Renji was on was clearly forgotten as he matched pace with the teenager. “and nice haori, by the way. _Kurosaki-taichou._ it looks good on ya.”

“Well, _Aburai-fukutaicho_ , I’m taking my sisters to the thirteenth to get their reiatsu levels officially tested.”

Looking between the three girls, he cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy. “I didn’t know you had three sisters.”

“Close enough.” Ichigo put his hand on Tatsuki’s shoulder and squeezed briefly. “We’ve known each other-“

“I’ve been beating this idiot up since we were four.” She said with a challenging smirk, hands planted on her hips.

“That’s not- You haven’t beaten me since we were twelve!”

That’s because you won once and then refused to fight me again!”

“Because you were _sulking_ and you wanted me kicked out.”

“ _That’s_ why you left?” she couldn’t believe her ears, “Because I was throwing a temper-tantrum.”

Ichigo blinked, then blinked again, then tilted his head to the left. “I left because I beat the strongest person there short of sensei and the street gangs were starting to be a problem.” He looked away, suddenly finding the off-white wall fascinating. Oh, did that crack get bigger? “I talked to sensei and we both agreed that until the gangs stopped going after me, that I would stay away so you wouldn’t get hurt again”

“I can take care of myself.” Tatsuki was unconvinced and Ichigo startled her by grabbing her right arm suddenly.

“I didn’t want _this_ to happen again.” He looked into her eyes and rubbed a long, ugly scar that ran across her forearm with a matching one curled from about mid-bicep to her shoulder with his thumb.

“Yeah, fine.” She looked away briefly, touching the top half. “But that doesn’t mean that you or dad shouldn’t have told me instead of you just never showing up again.”

“Would you have left me alone if one of us told you?” Tatsuki met his stare with one of her own in defiance.

“Of course not. But then it would have been my fault if I get hurt, not yours.” Ichigo stared and Renji winced. Even he knew that wasn’t how it worked. They stared at each other, neither backing down until Renji gave an awkward cough.

“I haven’t introduced myself.” Renji shifted his weight when her intense stare turned to him. “Aburai Renji, Fukutaicho of the Sixth Division.”

“Arisawa Tatsuki.” She said shortly before giving Ichigo a final look and a huff, turning away. “Unlike you, I don’t go out of my way to attract idiots. I’ll be careful.” Ichigo gave a relieved smile and a friendly head bump.

“Thanks, that’s all I want.” Turning to Renji, Ichigo gestured behind himself. “Renji, You’ve seen them before, but this one is- uh?” Putting his hand back to plop it onto one of his sister’s heads, it met with nothing but air. Turning around, he realized they were nowhere in sight.

“They went that way, Oblivious-nii” Tatsuki snarked, pointing back where they came from. In his panic, Ichigo flashed to the closest alleyway, only to release a quiet sigh of relief. The twins were not even five feet away from the end, with Karin leaning casually against the wall and Yuzu kneeling in the dirt, playing with a cat.

“C’mon, Yuzu, we need to get back before Ichi-nii notices we left.”

“But Karin-chan-“

“Too late.” Ichigo crossed his arms in full-blown big brother mode. “Next time you-“

“Look, onii-san, I found Raku!” Yuzu chirped, holding the cat up for her brother to see. The boy and cat started at each other, blinking, before Ichigo shuffled slightly to the side to see Yuzu’s bright face instead of the cat’s eerie green eyes.

“Raku? Are you going to make a muffler out of it?” He asked with a raised eyebrow and a nearly-blank face.

“Onii-san!” Yuzu huffed, pulling the thing in closer for a hug, “You’re mean!”

Cracking, Ichigo Smirked and landed his hand on Yuzu’s head “Warn me before you disappear, Ok? You scared me. Same goes for you, Karin.” Karin opened her mouth to protest but Ichigo shook his head and cut her off. “I know you’re both thirteen now, but this is Seireitei, not Karakura. I’m still not even comfortable letting Inoue off by herself, and she has quite a few friends here.”

“Isn’t that a bit overprotective.?” Renji asked, earning a look from all of them. “Right. Forget who I was talking to.” Renji raised his hands in defense. “ _I feel sorry for whatever kid you have one day”_ he muttered, earning a laugh from the dark-haired twin.

Ichigo decided to take the high route and ignored Renji’s last comment. Turning, Ichigo planted his hand on Karin’s head and pressed down enough to make her give a slight bow. “This one is Karin and that troublemaker is Yuzu.” He went to ruffled her hair, but the cat got to him first and managed to leave four neat lines across the back of this hand. “Ow! _Sonofa_ -!” He hissed out, retracting his hand and cradling it in his chest. After a moment, Ichigo inspected the wound to see the tell-tale sign of his hollow regeneration forming alabaster-white lines of bone that would fall off within the next hour. Shaking it out, he put his arm to his side, hiding the healing.

Puffing out her cheeks in annoyance, Yuzu hugged her cat closer. “That’s what you get for calling me a troublemaker, Onii-san” Turning to Renji, she put on a brilliant smile and bowed. “I’m Kurosaki Yuzu and this is Raku and I’m glad to finally meet you.”

“Err, yeah.” Renji rubbed the back of his head and bowed back. “Aburai Renji, Lieutenant of the Sixth division.”

“I remember! You were the cop that shot at daddy.” Yuzu chirped, “Please don’t do that again.” It wasn’t the same smile, but the supposedly ‘innocent’ sister gave him the same vague feeling as Unohana-Taicho. S _he’s frightening._

Managing to get around the damn cat without catching its attention, Ichigo Ruffled Yuzu’s hair. “We should get going. Renji, weren’t you off to do a chore?”

The redhead winced, “Yeah. Ah, shit, I’m going to be late to the office now. I guess I can get it tomorrow.” Ichigo raised his eyebrow and Renji waved it off. “Its nothing.”

Ichigo nodded. “See you tonight for the fireworks?”

He shook his head and sighed, “I pulled short straw this year, so I’m likely not getting out until after everything’s done.” Ichigo gave Renji a sympathetic look.

“Guess I’ll catch you later then.”

“Yeah, later.” The lieutenant waved, heading off to the sixth barracks (and, Ironically, back where he was coming from originally).

“This way.” Ichigo bobbed his head back the way they were heading before running across Renji. “We’re almost there.” He commented absently, watching above the maze-like walls for the tall trees of the Thirteenth's training ground, unlike the Twelfth and their observatory/labs and the Eleventh’s barren wasteland; of which they had already passed. Feeling a petite hand grab on to his, Ichigo gave it a small squeeze before looking to see who it was. He wasn’t surprised that it was Yuzu’s. “Yes?”

She held Karin’s hand as well and swung both her siblings’ hands absently. “Onii-san, what is the testing like?” The cat was staring at him as well from where it was wrapped around her neck lazily. And he could swear that it had the same intelligent look that Yoruichi had in her feline form.

“I just want to know that your reiatsu levels are, and if I need to talk to the old man about a tutor or if we can wait until later.” The girls looked at him expectantly and Ichigo deflated. “No, I don’t know what the testing is like exactly, but I asked Ukitake-san to do it, so it’ll likely be the easiest testing they have.”

He tried not to show it, but Ichigo was relieved when they turned the last corner and the gates to the Thirteenth division stood proudly before them. It was still early, so the gates were still closed with guards on either side, obviously reaching the end of their shift. “Hideyoshi, Ichiro, Morning.” Ichigo internally sniggered when the two unseated snapped to attention. Those two seemed to always pull overnight guard duty.

“Kurosaki-san!” The both greeted and Ichigo held out his arms and turned around to display the white haori. “Kurosaki... _taicho_?” one asked and the teen nodded.

“I still don’t care about titles, but Rukia’ll kill me if I don’t start correcting people.” Ichigo shrugged and plopped his hands back onto the twins’ heads. “Is Ukitake-san available?”

“Hai, taicho.” Ichigo chirped. “He’s in the Ugendo since he wasn’t feeling that well last night.”

“But its nothing serious.” Hideyoshi waved her hands to waylay Ichigo’s concern, “He just has a small headache.” Ichigo nodded and waited for the duo to open the gate for them. Secretly, he was impressed at the care and loyalty that the frail captain inspired in his subordinates.

Finally crossing the threshold, Yuzu looked around and gasped in pleasant surprise. “Its so pretty!” Ichigo couldn’t help but to nod in agreement. The Thirteenth was fashioned in a traditional sprawling manner, with most of the buildings consisting of only one story. The landscape was well taken care of with quite the variety of trees and flowerbeds that created wonderful meandering paths between the various courtyards.

“I don’t know how Ukitake’s doing, so I’ll leave you with Rukia for now.” Ichigo led the girls along the most direct route, consisting of walking along the porch that stretched the entirety of the main building, absently tracking Rukia’s unique signature. When it came to tracking, he still had issues when it came to picking out general acquaintances in a crowd, but if it was someone close, he could find them relatively quickly. Then again, at this time of day, he wasn’t surprised to find her already in the office, working on her (and quite a bit of Ukitake’s) paperwork.

“Hey.” Rukia greeted absently, finishing the signature on her current paper before looking up. “We didn’t expect you for another hour or so. Ukitake-taicho is still in his Ugendo. Hey girls.” She smiled and stood up, accepting her hug from the light-haired twin.

“Should we wait then?”

“You don’t have to. I can have the girls stay here while you go talk to him.”

Nodding a thanks and getting reassurances from the girls, Ichigo left in a small burst of shunpo, just enough to get him to the edge of the lake and the wooden walkway that led to the Ugendo. It was a glorified shed, really, with two walls that could be opened completely or covered with curtains, depending on the weather, with a tatami floor and the standard tiled roof that seemed common with the higher-end buildings in Seireitei. “Ukitake-san, are you in there?” Ichigo called from about halfway down the walk, getting closer.

“Ah, Ichigo-kun, good morning.” Ukitake peered around the wall that faced the walk. “We weren’t expecting you until later. Have you had breakfast yet?” He asked, seeing Ichigo’s tired eyes.

“Not yet.” She shook his head, blocking a yawn with the back of his hand. “I forgot to grab my bentou from Chad before he went to visit. I'll grab it later.”

Ukitake nodded. “Did you have any issues with the senkaimon this time?”

“Thankfully, no.” Ichigo gave a relieved grin. It was almost a running joke about the use of Urahara’s portals being… tricky. Technically Ichigo could form his own by now, but it was easier to use the one already set up.

Ukitake nodded and stood up, placing his meal tray in the corner to be picked up later. “That is good to hear. Is it safe to assume that your sisters and your other friend made it safely as well?” He asked, already leading Ichigo back to the office.

He followed a half step behind the elder captain and nodded. “We decided to meet at the shoten and I thought Chad and I were going to be the first ones in, but we were actually the last. Inoue, Arisawa and the twins didn’t want to wait.”

“Ah, so Inoue-san is here as well. And Ishida-san?”

“He said that he was busy.” Ukitake nodded in easy acceptance though they both knew that the boy tried to avoid shinigami as if they were the plague, though he had grown more accepting recently.

“Understandable. Please wait here for a moment.” Ducking into the room they were just passing, Ukitake came back shortly with an intricately-decorated box about the size of a large hardbound book, which he carried flat. Catching Ichigo’s curious look, Ukitake smiled and jostled the box slightly. “Our testing materials for today. There are several methods to test reishi, but I find this the most informative and the least intrusive style. Most prefer using a reishi collector to measure a spirit’s levels, but it doesn’t necessarily say anything about their potential and where they would have the most success. And there is the sensitive method, which uses individuals with psychic talent to investigate the soul’s… soul and their inner workings. The problem with that method is that souls with the potential for psychic ability are few and far between and would theoretically only be able to test a few souls at a time. Plus with the moral implications, we reserve the testers that we do have for extreme circumstances, such as when the soul is being subconsciously guarded with their abilities. Take Hisagi-kun for instance. He failed the entrance reishi exams twice before they called in a psychic evaluator. It turned out he was repressing Kazeshini even before the zanpakutou manifested itself and that was causing the problems.”

Ichigo nodded along, fascinated with the information he was being given, but his eyes were tight when Ukitake started speaking about psychics. “So, the psychics,” he paused, trying to form the correct question. “Can just go into anyone’s mind, whenever they want?”

“What?” Ukitake startled, “Oh, no. All of the psychics that I know of either use touch or some sort of trigger, such as activating their sword’s special ability. Also, it takes quite the effort, from what I have heard, so all of the secrets that you wish to keep are safe.” He gave a reassuring smile, which Ichigo returned only partially. The tightness in his eys remained.

Reaching the door to his office, he gestured for Ichigo to go first. He did so and sat down between his sisters and Tatsuki while Ukitake sat down and placed the box between them on the low desk. “You can come closer, everyone, no need to be shy.” Ukitake smiled and gestured to come joining him around the low desk as he opened the box to reveal what looked like a normal stationary set with a bottle of ink, a very fine-tipped brush and pieces of paper cut in various sizes. “Rukia-chan, would you like to participate as well?” He asked, extending an invitation to his Fukutaicho.

“No, thank you, Ukitake-taicho.” She replied, looking between two reports.

The Taicho nodded and looked at the four ‘children’ surrounding him. The two older sat on either side of the desk, while the twins sat directly across. “To start off, welcome to Soul Society. My name is Ukitake Joushirou, Captain of squad Thirteen.” He said in a complete teacher mode and gestured for Tatsuki to go next. Sitting this close, he understood why Ichigo wanted his advice concerning two of the girls, but not quite sure of the little flaxen-haired one. It almost seemed as if the cat perched on her head had more reiatsu than she did.

“Arisawa Tatsuki. Sub-tacher at Ryoutora Karate Dojo.” Ukitake raised his eyebrow. Apparently Ms. Arisawa was unimpressed by his title by giving one of her own.

“And second place in Women’s national Vale Tudo, am I correct?”

If anything, Tatsuki sat straighter. “Hai. And I’m planning on taking first in a few months.”

Ukitake smiled, wishing the girl the best of luck before turning to the dark-haired twin. “Kurosaki Karin. Captain of Karakura middle soccer team and part-time hollow hunter.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ichigo Grimace. Ah, so this was the true reason why he had brought the girls to be tested.

“Not if I can help it. Ichigo muttered darkly.

“Hey, someone had to pick up your slack, _Ichi-nii_ , and it definitely _not_ that afro guy.” She yelled, raising up slightly on her knees.

“I think what your brother is trying to say,” Ukitrake raised his hands, trying to mediate. “Is that he doesn’t want you to get hurt.” Ichigo nodded in agreement. “If you wish, and with your father and brother’s permission, there is a possibility to set up some casual lessons for you, all three of you, so that you can be safe.” Ichigo was unhappy, but it was the best solution that Ukitake could suggest. “And you must be Yuzu-chan, correct?” He sidestepped back into introductions, letting the two more forceful Kurosaki siblings calm down.

“Oh, ah, Yes!” Yuzu chirped, bobbing her head. “Kurosaki Yuzu. Pleased to meet you.” Ukitake gave her a welcoming smile in response. He could tell she was nervous and more than a little out of her element, where her sister and brother’s friend had taken to the environment like a fish to the ocean.

“And you too. I hope that you enjoy your time here today. Now,” Ukitake uncorked the ink bottle and laid out a piece of paper about the size of a bookmark. “Ichigo-kun, would you mind helping me demonstrate this test?”

“Aa, sure. What do you need me to do?”

“I just need your dominant hand. There we go.” Ichigo held out his right hand and Ukitake took it gently in his left, palm up, and took up the fine-tipped brush in his right. Dipping the brush, Ukitake drew glyphs on the pad of each fingertip. “The ink and paper themselves are nothing extraordinary, but they react to a soul’s inherent reiatsu if combined in a certain way.” Finishing the designs, Ukitake turned his hand over and pressed the fingertips onto the paper for a five-count before releasing his wrist. At first, nothing happened except for four reflected prints from the ink. Then, at once, the whole paper changed colors, centered on the four points, before charring and curling at the edges. “Interesting.”

 


	5. Karin

“Is it supposed to do that?” Tatsuki asked, seeing Ukitake’s curious look and Ichigo’s wince.

“Did I do something wrong?” Ichigo asked at the same time.

“No, no, nothing is wrong.” Ukitake placated, picking up the charred paper delicately. “We just need to use a bigger piece of paper to get a clearer reading, but we can see the beginning of what the results would look like.” He pointed to the very middle of one of the fingertips. “The color and shape determine various aspects of your power while the order and how dramatic the contrast is, is how the power relates to the very core of your being. For example, the very center here is a white that fades into a fiery light blue… hmm… I see why you were concerned when I was speaking earlier. If you wish, I can explain the details of your results after the girls are finished?” After a moments hesitation, Ichigo nodded and Ukitake continued on with his explanation. “In contrast, the red band is solid, not blending with the blue or white on either side. This indicates a standalone trait that doesn’t blend readily with other traits. We would normally exam the size and general shape of the affected areas as well, but as you can see, that is impossible to determine given the… present circumstances.”

Char marked the edges of the paper and rubbed off on Ukitake’s fingers, much to Rukia’s amusement. “Shut up Midget!” Ichigo growled, hearing snickers from her side of the room.

“I didn’t say anything, baka,” Rukia smirked indulgently, “But since you brought it up… you _really_ did it this time.”

“Thanks, Rukia, really.” He shot her a dry and shuttered look, before turning back to Ukitake.

“So, now that the explanation is out of the way,” Ukitake perked, bracing his hands on the table to stand, “who wants to go first?”

“I guess I’ll go first.” Karin volunteered trying to pass of her excitement for nonchalance.

Nodding, Ukitake stood and grabbed the box full of papers. “Thank you for volunteering to go first Karin-cha-hmm… Kun.” Ukitake stopped himself and pondered the young teen for a moment. He could sense her displeasure at being called ‘chan’ and ‘san’ was just too distanced for his taste. He had a feeling that the masculine-diminutive ‘kun’ would appease the girl. “Karin-kun, would you please take the ink and follow me?” After a nod of reassurance from Rukia, Karin followed the Taicho just two doors down, into what looked like a small study. “I hope you don’t mind that we do this in private with a barrier on the room?” he gave the girl a conspiratorial wink full of humor as he set the box down on a small tray sitting between two cushions. “Your brother’s reiatsu can be a bit smothering and I want to get a reading that’s purely yours.”

“Yeah he does that.” She didn’t sit down until Ukitake closed and sealed the door and sat down on the cushion facing the door, inviting her to take the remaining one.

“Its what makes him a natural protector. Now, while we’re waiting for ‘the air to clear’, so to say, do you have any questions you wish to ask?”

Karin shook her head. “Not really. Its just, why is Ichi-nii doing this now?” She asked, studying the bookshelves from where she knelt. She would have honestly been more comfortable in jeans and her team jersey but Yuzu insisted since they were going to a _festival_ tonight, that their yukata would be better. The azure number with a shooting star motif forced her into a seiza instead of being able to cross her legs or sprawl out like she was more comfortable doing.

“I can’t answer for your brother, but from what I understand, this seemed like the best time. You have come into your power enough to effectively channel it and I assume that you have been given enough information about shinigami to make informed judgments and relevant questions. And so, I ask you the question: why not now?” Ukitake asked back, pouring Karin and himself tea from a carafe that she assumed was sun tea.

Karin looked away and shrugged. It wasn't like things had changed for her in any real major way. It was all on Ichigo: when all that activity picked up and when those hollows and Shinigami started to show up and disturb her and Yuzu's everyday life. Its not like she wanted to be involved in the spirit world. It just happened that way. And then Ichi-nii changed and all the Shinigami disappeared and she was left cleaning up their mess because he couldn't. Somebody had to protect Yuzu if he couldn't. Or wouldn't. “Why did all the shinigami disappear?” She finally decided to ask. “Its not like we still could have used your help and all.”

“That, I'm afraid, was the Sou-Taicho's decision. The Reiatsu in Karakura has always been high, but after the winter war, and especially during it, the levels were high enough to start to affect the general populous. Yamamoto-Sou-Taicho decided to pull all of the high-reiatsu emitters out of your world soon after a report from Kurotsuchi-taicho indicated that we were starting to affect even the non-powered souls in the area.”

“So, we were left to clean up the mess without any help.” To say that Karin was unimpressed was like saying that rain was wet.

“I know it does not help you feel better, but Kuchiki-Fukutaicho and Aburai-Fukutaicho volunteered to remain behind to help 'clean up the mess', as you so eloquently put it.”

“But they were denied.” Karin took a swig of the ice tea and grimaced. This white-haired guy really had a thing for sweet things.

“Yes. Nobody ranked fifth seat or above has been allowed to even pass through the Karakura-cho area since the end of the war. Giving Ichigo his shinigami powers back had been the first time since then that many of us had even left the Seireitei.” Ukitake gave a wistful smile before shifting focus back to the box of special ink and paper. “Though, I did hear that seventh-seat Yamada did manage to secure a long-term post in Karakura, though he was retracted when he was promoted to third.”

“Oh. That's... good. I guess.” Karin tried to remember if she had felt any reiatsu that could have possibly been this 'Yamada' guy, but nothing was ringing any bells. “That he was promoted. Not that he was retracted from Karakura. I don't remember anyone aside from Afro-san helping with the Hollows though. And he wasn't that much help to begin with. Actually, he was more of an annoyance than anything else. And a bit of an idiot to boot, trying to pretend we couldn't see him even though we obviously could.” The more that Karin rambled, the more embarrassed Ukitake became on behalf of his subordinate.

“If you wish, Karin-kun, I can have a word with Zennosuke-san when he next checks in. Now,” he smiled, pulling out one of the largest sheets of specially-prepared paper from his kit, “I believe that was enough time, don't you think? Could I please have your dominant hand?”

“Uh, sure.” Karin balked at the abrupt change of topic and held out her right hand, palm up. Ukitake quickly painted the glyphs on Karin's fingertips and she pressed her hand on the full sheet of paper. Ichi-nii had only had a quarter-sheet, so she didn't know _what_ to expect with a full one.

And then the paper virtually _bloomed_ with color.

At its center was a ring of lemon yellow that seemed to be held by streaks of Scarlet and Violet that seemed to caress the edge of the paper. Royal blue danced and wove around amber and magenta waves, while at the edge, as if guarding the other colors, spikes pinwheeled in crimson and azure. Overall, Karin thought it looked like some preschooler had gotten a bit overenthusiastic with the markers, even ripping the paper slightly in their enthusiasm.

“...Okay?” Karin had no glue where to even start. All that she understood was that it was certainly... colorful.

Humming absently, Ukitake traced his finger down one of the spikes of crimson with a small smile. “Tell me Karin-kun, have you ever had dreams of flying?”

“I'm sorry, what?” Where the hell did this nutjob pull flying from?

“I'll certainly say,” Ukitake finally looked up and gave Karin a smile, “You are not lacking in the reiatsu department. I'm glad we went with the full-sized paper, or this may well have been an exorcise in futility. Still, the paper was still damaged, which indicates a strong affinity toward an element. Now, have you ever dreamt of flight, or maybe looking up or being in the sky?”

Karin felt chills run down her arms as she grabbed her elbows and looked away. Something about that question just seemed so... personal, for some reason. “Sometimes. But doesn't everybody?” Ukitake gestured for her to continue and Karin did so reluctantly. “It's always nighttime and I'm staring up at the moon. Sometimes its cloudy, sometimes its clear, depending on... what, I don't know. All I know is, there's something up there, circling, but I can't hear a thing. Not a single sound. All I know, is that I want to go up there, bathe in the moonlight and start circling... circling... circling.”

Snapping out of her half-memories, Karin hid a sheepish look behind her glass of tea. Ukitake just gave Karin a reassuring look before moving his hand back to the paper and touching the yellow circle gently. “I felt a lot of similar things when I was young, though mine was the water. I was afraid I would drown for the longest time in my dreams. Then again, I was very sick when I was younger too, so drowning in my sleep was a distinct possibility if my lungs finally gave in. So, do you wish to work from the center out, or from the edge first?”

“The middle.” Karin thought that it looked the most... repressed. Like the other colors were trying to conceal it, to protect it from everything else. “Please.”

Ukitake nodded. “You've lost someone and it changed your very being. Your core.” Ukitake tapped the yellow circle and Karin felt the urge to swat away his hand, like it was invading her very soul. “If I remember correctly, it was your mother, wasn't it?”

“We were four. Ichi-nii watched it happen.” Karin muttered, alternating between glaring at the offending circle and looking away.

“It also indicates that you are very self-reliant and as a result of that loss, you fear something similar happening again.” Ukitake strove to keep his tone neutral, not wanting Karin to storm out in the middle of her reading. “These,” he indicated the scarlet streaks, which ran from where they pierced the yellow circle to the edge of the paper. “Are pretty much what I would call your life-lines, in this instance. See how they run from nearly the center of your being to touch everything around them? Its your enthusiasm, your love of life and, dare I say, your defiant streak as well?” His tone lilted a little toward the teasing side, drawing a small smirk from the raven-head.

Tracing the crimson pinwheel spikes at the edge of the paper, he drew Karin's attention to those next. “While this is about the same color as the spikes, this indicates that your determination to succeed is what you use to protect yourself. Its not a bad thing, but I would suggest being careful that, on the opposite side of the spectrum, losing does not bring you low. Though it does make me think that I should ask you this, instead of your brother: what are your plans for the future? What are your _goals_?” He asked, tracing the line of Azure that seemed to encircle nearly everything else.

Karin couldn't help but to smirk. “I want to win the FIFA world cup. And I'm not talking just the women's. I want to win against the men. I want to show them that you don't have to be a guy to kick ass.” Karin smirked, imagining the roar of the crowd in her ears as she hit the winning goal.

“And may I ask... FIFA?” He asked with a mildly amused expression.

“Football... Soccer. Its against the best teams around the world.”

“Ah, with that white ball with the black spots that Shiro-kun has?” Karin nodded in confirmation, getting a nod in return. She got the feeling that the old man had no clue what she was actually talking about, but was enthusiastic for her passion either way. “And if you could no longer play... Football? Then what? What other goals do you have?”

Karin shrugged, looking away, “Yuzu.” She said by explanation, not really wanting to think about it. “If nothing else. I want to protect Yuzu. She doesn't deserve for anything else to happen to her. Especially after what she did when mom died. And what nearly happened before.” Karin couldn't breathe for a moment. The memory of Yuzu's gray, ashy skin and that rusty chain sticking out of her chest like she was one of the souls she saw on the street. She never wanted to see something like that happen again. She still had nightmares about every time that a hollow grabbed her, Yuzu or both of them at the same time. “I want to be strong enough to do what Ichi-nii couldn't. I will be strong enough to protect Yuzu.”

Ukitake nodded, tracing the ribbon of Amber (confidence), before moving to the last two colors: a spiral flame of royal blue and flower blooms of magenta. He would be worried about the girl being self-destructive if it wasn't for these two colors. Change, and the willingness to do so was always important traits when it came to surviving in this world. Rigidity bred stagnation and there was already far too much in the soul society for what he felt was going to be one of the most powerful generations he had seen in a long time to fight through. Ichigo-kun had already started waves of change throughout Seireitei without even meaning to and now he couldn't wait to see what the rest of his family could do.

“May I ask what happened when your mother died? I know it quite impacted your brother's life, but what about you and Yuzu-chan? What happened to you?” He didn't necessarily need to know, nor did Karin need to answer, but something like this was easier to bear with others.

Karin shrugged. “I toughened up. Ichi-nii disappeared off to the river everyday and Yuzu... she made sure we didn't fall apart.” She spoke with a fond smile, small though it was. “She has more scars that any of us. On her hands, mostly.” Karin held up hers, relatively pristine except for the odd callous or two, in comparison. “She taught herself to cook mostly by herself, with Ichi-nii's help sometimes in the beginning. And she started doing most of the chores. Still does, really. We tried to help a few times...” She folded her hands down, absently tracing the shorter violet streaks, “we learned the hard way that that's _her_ territory.”

“That's your imagination.”

“Hmm?” Karin shook her head. “No, seriously. Yuzu's threatened to lock us out of the house before if we try to help with the chores.” Ukitake raised an eyebrow at that, covering his disbelieving smile with one hand before nodding at the paper.

“I meant the violet. Your imagination and where I would bet quite a bit of your spiritual power comes from.”

“Oh.”

“If you'd like, I could write up a comprehensive report on this and send it to you by next week through your brother. I have a feeling that we've covered all of the major points that we needed to today.” Karin nodded, understanding a dismissal when she heard one and went to stand up, stumbling a little on her yukata's hem. “Do you have any questions before you go?”

Karin shook her head before pausing and staring intently at the paper. “Yeah, I do. Where did you get the whole flying thing? I don't see it.”

“Ah.” Ukitake nodded, “I don't normally tell students that I do readings for, since they usually have to figure these things out for themselves, but its just a simple matter of affinity.” He gestured to the frayed edges of the paper.

“I thought that was because of my power levels. Like Ichi-nii's paper getting scorched.”

Ukitake bobbed his head in a neutral gesture. “Yes, and no. Yours ripped, but didn't scorch. It indicates a similar level of potential, but not the same type. Yours, my dear, is a wind/air affinity. I find that more often than not, that when air affinity zanpakutou spirits start trying to contact their shinigami, they start to dream of flying, whether or not said zanpakutou spirit ultimately grants them flight or not. Karin-kun I'll leave you with this bit of advice,” Ukitake stood up and rolled up Karin's piece of paper, tying it with a ribbon before tucking it into one of his sleeves and opening the door for the younger to exit. “Meditate. And keep your ears open to whatever your spirit may be telling you. You may be closer to having your own zanpakutou than you thought.”

With that thought, Karin perked up and gave a rare genuine smile, instead of one of her oft-used smirks. “I'll do that. Thank you for your help, Ukitake-san.”

* * *

Watching Karin follow Rukia's Taicho out the room, Ichigo let out a yawn and flopped onto his back, tossing his arm over his eyes. “Ugh.” A few seconds later, he felt someone sit close to his side and started poking him. Blindly swiping at the disturbance, it was no wonder he didn't make any contact with the offending digit. “Lemme sleep.”

The snort that came from over his head told him just who had sat down next to him. “And what time, oh tired one, did you finally get out of there last night?”

“Ah, shit!” Ichigo rolled back up to a sitting position and looked Tatsuki in the face from less than a foot away. “I'm sorry Tas, I was going to walk you home after the gig, I swear.”

“It's a good thing you didn't.” Tatsuki replied, pushing Ichigo back hard enough to lay him out on the floor once again. “Or we'd both be exhausted. So... what time was it?”

Smothering his face with his own hands, Ichigo attempted to wipe some of the exhaustion from his features. “...Three? I think. Maybe later. We still had to break down the stage after dealing with the octopi. They would _not go away_.”

“Mr. Popularity doesn't like his fangirls?” Tatsuki teased. “You know, its not nice to call them that.”

“Does it look like I care?” Ichigo grimaced, glancing over at where Rukia and Yuzu had started their own quiet conversation. “I swear, I think some of them were hitting on me. Don't they know that I'm just a stand-in?”

“Hate to break it to ya, but I think a lot of them were there for you. I asked around before the curtain and practically none of them knew who I was talking about when I asked whether they liked the regular or the substitute lead guitarist better. So,” Tatsuki got that dangerous look in her eye that seemed to always promise pain, “any offers?”

“For what?” Ichigo asked before his brain caught up, soon followed by his face flushing. “NO!” he yelled, drawing attention from the other two in the room and turning heads from outside. “Even if I did, which I'm not saying I did,” he hissed through clenched teeth, “I'm not an idiot. I'm not going to sleep with the first girl,” Tatsuki raised her eyebrow. They'd had this conversation before, “Or guy that asks me out.”

“So... you and...” Tatsuki slid her eyes over toward the Lieutenant’s desk.

“We're just friends.” _For now_ , Ichigo thought. “I'm just not interested in that type of relationship right now.” Tatsuki raised her eyebrow while Ichigo started to stand up. He could read the second question about Orihime in her eyes, for which he shook his head. “I'll tell you when I change my mind. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out where to go in my own life, let alone involving anyone else.” Walking over to Rukia and Yuzu, he tugged on a lock of his sister's hair. “Hey Yuu, you got them?”

Immediately perking up, Yuzu dug into her yukata's sleeves, pulling out a comb and a cloth pouch, handing both over as Ichigo sat down hard against one of the support beams on the porch, patting the floor between his legs in invitation. “Hai, there you go!” Settling herself down in front of her big brother, Yuzu relaxed when she felt the comb pull through her near-shoulder length hair. It wasn't often that Ichi-nii decided to do something like this, but it was always nice when he did. Of course she could do things like this herself, but somehow her brother's always turned out the best.

“Thinking anything in particular?” He asked, sorting through the various hair accessories that he had dumped out of the pouch and onto the porch by his hip.

“Nope!” Yuzu chirped, taking extra care to stay still as Ichigo gently pulled her hair this way and that. Humming absently, Ichigo took a half-full package of tiny hair bands and gave them to Yuzu to hold. While her hair was finally long enough to braid, it was fine enough that most knots would slip out throughout the day.

“Tip your head back.” He instructed with a mutter, putting a finger under her chin until he could easily reach the top of her head. Starting next to her natural part and right behind her bangs, Ichigo twisted a small section until it was about an inch further back before tapping Yuzu's shoulder for a hair band. Securing it, he did nearly a dozen more identical twists from ear to ear right behind her bangs. Splitting the tails from the twists in half, he created a sort of net over the crown of her head, securing each intersection with a new hair band until the last row laid about even with her ears.

By the time he was halfway done with the last row of the net, Karin came in, looking to tell Yuzu that she was next. “Uh...”

Looking between Yuzu, Karin, and Ichigo's hands still tangled in his youngest sister's hair, Tatsuki gave a huff. “Right, guess I'm next then.”

“Yeah. Thanks Tas.” Ichigo nodded, tying off another tail.

Waving Ichigo off, Tatsuki followed Karin's pointed finger with a mutter, “I guess I'll just find my own way then.”

“He's just two doors down.” Karin offered helpfully before going over to kneel beside her siblings and sorting through the pile of kanzashi and ribbons dumped on the floor. “Oh, I didn't know you grabbed this one Yuu.”

“Which one?” Yuzu asked, not moving her head when Ichigo moved to a sort of twisting french braid thing that started behind one of her ears.

“The rabbit one.” Karin absently handed Ichigo a green ribbon, which he used to secure the braid in the middle.

“Can you hand me the Forget-me-not comb?” Ichigo asked, holding his hand out while the other held Yuzu's hair in place.

“Oh, I thought you could finally give that to Rukia-nee, Nii-san.” Yuzu commented as the flowers were settled into her hair, framed by a pair of maple leaf kanzashi. With a grunt, Ichigo signaled that Yuzu should turn around.

“You don't mind?” Ichigo asked in a hushed tone, attaching Yuzu's strawberry clip to a flutter and using it to sweep her bangs off to one side. Yuzu shook her head, smiling at the flashes of silver in the corner of her eye.

“Iie, you made it for Rukia-nee.”

“Ok,” Ichigo smiled and leaned back, tucking the rabbit kanzashi into one of Yuzu's hands, “go and show off to Rukia then.”

“Hai!” Standing up, Yuzu walked over to Rukia and did a little spin. “What do you think?”

“I think you look very pretty.” Rukia smiled, putting aside her brush to give Yuzu her full attention, as if she hadn't heard their entire conversation. Stepping forward, Yuzu presented Rukia with a comb Kanzashi. “Is this for me?” She asked before really looking at the piece. (Hearing that Ichigo had made it, made her a little skeptical of its quality), “I'm sure I'll... Oh, wow.” Looking at the piece, her breath was taken away. It was indeed a rabbit, but not near as cartoonish as she was used to when it came to Chappy. It was pure white, outlined in silver, and caught in a pose stretched in mid-leap. Looking closely, its eyes were tiny purple faceted beads that reminded her of her own eyes. “It's beautiful.”

Yuzu nodded, “Nii-san worked on that one for a long time, and left it on his desk for even longer. I think he was hoping that you would come and take it when you came to visit, even if he couldn't see you anymore.”

“I wanted to. I really did.”

“I know.” Ichigo spoke up, one hand around Karin's waist before the dark-haired twin could escape, “I understand that you had things stopping you. Your turn Karin.”

“No, you pull my hair!” Karin screeched, trying to pry her brother's grip away and losing spectacularly.

“I wouldn't have to if you'd just sit. Still!” Ichigo dragged Karin around in front of himself and used one leg over her lap to pin her in place.

“It's not like I'm trying to impress anyone. It's just Toushirou.” Karin huffed, crossing her arms, but allowing Ichigo to undo her ponytail.

“For me then?” Ichigo pleaded, taking extra care not to pull when he used the comb on her tangles. “Please?”

It was the please that did it. Slumping with a sigh, Karin nodded her head, wincing when her hair pulled. “Fine. Something simple.”

* * *

“Hello?” Tatsuki knocked on the shoji frame as she peeked around the corner. The room was small with one whole wall covered in shelves that were absolutely filled with books, scrolls, and various knickknacks that she had only seen in her grandparent's house before. In the middle of the room was a round kotatsu where Ukitake sat. “Um... White-Hair-san?”

“Ah, come in, come in, and make yourself comfortable.” Ukitake smiled and waved Tatsuki in. “Though I would think it would be more like 'Uncle White-Hair' if you must. There's more than one of us captains that has white hair, after all.”

“...Right.” Tatsuki agreed absently, folding down onto the floor cushion with a type of absentminded grace he usually saw in higher seated shinigami. “So... where do we start?”

Standing up, Ukitake sat Karin's cup outside the door to be picked up later and closed the door, re-casting the seal and pouring a new glass of tea. “How about a cup of tea and a pleasant conversation?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you notice a _complete change of writing style_ halfway through this chapter, don't be alarmed. Blame a 3-year gap between writing the first and second halves of this chapter, and over a year and a half of just _not writing anything_ on top of that. 
> 
> ...Yeah.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: this isn't edited. So if things are funky, I apologise in advance. I'll likely correct things next month when I'm not in the middle of NaNo.

“...Right.” Tatsuki agreed absently, folding down onto the floor cushion with a type of absentminded grace he usually saw in higher seated shinigami. “So... where do we start?”

Standing up, Ukitake sat Karin's cup outside the door to be picked up later and closed the door, re-casting the seal and pouring a new glass of tea. “How about a cup of tea and a pleasant conversation?”

“Um... Ok.” She nodded thanks as she took the offered cup. “Where do you want to start?”

“From the beginning tends to work.” Ukitake teased, “do you have any questions for me? About Shinigami in general or anything specific?”

“Not... really.” She did, but she just couldn't think of any in particular at that very moment. This white-haired man had honestly caught her off guard compared to her limited knowledge of every other shinigami she had run across in the past. Then again, it was war time, apparently, the last time she had seen any shinigami. “What happened to Ichigo? He changed after he met you guys. He's... happier now. Almost, uh, more comfortable with himself. Especially since a few weeks ago when 'Hime said that he got his powers back.”

“He wasn't happy before?” It wasn't like Ukitake had anything to compare to, having met Ichigo during Rukia's daring rescue, but he did seem happy with his life, despite not smiling much.

“More like he was lost.” Ukitake nodded, finally understanding what Arisawa-san was talking about.

“It happens sometimes, where a person doesn't quite know where their path in life is until they're already on it. It's good to know that Kurosaki-kun is happy now. There are some that never do find the right path.”

“Well, the path Ichigo was on, he probably would have ended up with the yakuza or some bodyguard or something if it wasn't for Rukia.” Tatsuki smirked, taking a sip of the -ugh- tea-flavored sugar. “Come to think of it, he was always rescuing strays. Whether it was some random soul's memorial getting kicked over or some poor idiot getting worked over by one of the gangs. He met Sado-san that way, apparently.”

“And you? Were you one of those strays?”

Tatsuki snorted out a laugh, slapping a hand over her fist. “Hell no. We met in the preschool of hard knocks and I knocked out one of his teeth!” She laughed, shaking her head at White-Hair's shocked expression. “No, really. We met at the dojo my dad runs when we were four. We were sparring partners and I knocked him flat on his ass and made him cry. And he generally didn't stop until Masaki-san, his mom, would walk in the door. Then, bam, it was like someone had given him an entire cake and told him that he didn't have to share. Masaki-san was Ichigo's life. And then she died, Ichigo finally won a spar, and we grew up.” She shrugged as if to say 'that's life', “Though I'm still pissed that he kept all of this secret from me. Especially after 'Hime was kidnapped.”

“And what would you have done, even if Kurosaki-kun would have told you everything? From what I understand, you still have not exhibited any extraordinary abilities.”

Tatsuki shrugged, thinking. “I don't really know, but I still should have been allowed to fight. Unless you count being bull-headed an 'extraordinary ability.' Ah, and I've always been able to pinpoint where people are... except for that time that 'Hime was kidnapped. And then Ichigo and Sado-san disappeared too. But I can still feel my parents from here, so I don't know what the difference was if they just came here and back.”

“I believe that you are talking about the time that your friends went to Hueco Mundo. It's a separate world from ours, so it is not surprising that you couldn't feel their spiritual pressures any longer. What _is_ surprising though, is your ability to feel across our dimension back to yours. Now, the question is, can you only sense your friends, or would you be able to sense someone you don't know well, if at all?”

Tatsuki shrugged. “I've never really had to try before. It just sorta... happens.”

“Would you like to try a small experiment with me then? You see,” Ukitake pulled a red pinwheelkanzashi from his sleeve and held it up. “My friend dropped this the other day and I was hoping to return it before they start to miss it too terribly. Could you tell me where they are so that I can send this off to them.”

Holding out her hand, Ukitake dropped the hair decoration in her palm. “I can try, but I don't make any guarantees.”

“That is fine,” Ukitake nodded, “take all the time that you need.” Closing her eyes, Tatsuki absently rolled the hair pin in her hand, feeling the worn silk of the decoration. “Separate out my reiatsu from the owner's. Theirs should be stronger, more ingrained into the kanzashi.”

Wrinkling her nose and adjusting her grip on the kanzashi to just the wires, Tatsuki peeked out one eye at the white-haired captain. “This belongs to a pervert.” She muttered with barely-concealed disgust.

Nodding with a wry grin, “Yes, he can be at times,” Ukitake didn't deny his friend's quirks. “Now, can you track him?”

Tatsuki snorted, putting the pins down. “Why bother? He's coming this direction anyway.”

“Oh?” Ukitake asked with no small amount of surprise.

“Yeah, your friend's either this Hisagi guy or the guy that Sado was meeting up with in the eighth division. Either way, I can pretty much bet that he's coming this way with Ichigo's breakfast.”

“And what makes you say that?” Ukitake asked, secretly impressed that this girl had been able to sense anything through his barrier, let alone to such precision.

“'Cause he's holding something that Sado was holding earlier, while Sado himself is actually walking more _that_ way.” She pointed slightly off from where she had been absently 'watching' the wall and, assuming, Kyouraku's reiatsu.

“Do you think we have time before he shows up for your reading?”

Tatsuki shrugged, “Enough. He's not exactly being speedy, if that's what you're asking.”

Ukitake nodded. “That would indeed be Kyouraku Shunshui you would be tracking then. Good job, Arisawa-san.” He praised with a wide smile, pocketing the hair pins once again. “Shall we begin then?”

“Sure.” Tatsuki shrugged, holding out her hand without being prompted.

* * *

“Ichi-nii!”

“I'm not hurting you!” The siblings sniped at each other, Karin's head resting on Ichigo's thigh so that he could reach the side of her head easier. While he was doing the braid snugly against her temple, he was not, despite Karin's protests, pulling her hair.

“Oh, my, isn't this an interesting situation I find myself walking in to.” A male voice commented with a certain amount of levity.

Looking up, Ichigo nodded at the man just entering through the garden, wearing a pink kimono and a straw hat, “Yo. Kyouraku-taicho.” He would have waved in greeting, but his hands were currently full with the trailing end of a tiny braid. “Oi, tie.” he nudged Karin with his other knee. The first couple inches were a dutch braid that had segued into a standard three-strand. Quickly tying off the braid, he helped Karin to sit up. “You here to see Ukitake-taicho?” He asked, gathering her hair into her standard high ponytail and tugging the two small braids above her left temple into a swag. Woven into the braids was a thin ice-blue ribbon with a ceramic bead painted with a (small, miniscule, barely-noticeable) snowflake that sat between the beginning of the braids. Pinning the braids in place with a pin hung with a rainbow of tiny enameled origami cranes, he unraveled the tails of the braids so that they blended in with the rest of her ponytail. With a small tweak to make the tiny ribbons the same length as the rest of her ponytail, Ichigo patted Karin's shoulders. “Done.”

“Oh thank the gods.” Karin surged away from her brother, immediately fiddling with her ponytail to make sure it was tight enough. “Who the hell are you?” She asked, giving the man wearing the pink kimono the stink eye. Her pervert meter was wailing off the charts.

“Kyouraku Shunshui, Taicho of the eighth division.” He tilted his straw hat in greeting, “and you would be?”

“Kurosaki Karin. And I'll kick your ass if you try to do anything, pervert.” Ichigo had to look away at that, concentrating _exceptionally hard_ on putting the unused hair accessories back into Yuzu's pouch.

Kyouraku smiled and nodded. “Of that, I have no doubt. Ah,” he held up a familiar-looking convenience store bag, “I actually came to deliver this, courtesy of Sado-kun. Ichigo-kun, I believe this is yours.”

“Aa. Thanks Kyouraku-taicho. I forgot to grab it from Chad earlier. It's my breakfast.” Ichigo nodded and took the bag, resisting from immediately tearing into the bentou inside.

“Nii-san, you know convenience store food isn't good for you.” Yuzu huffed, nodding in greeting to the new taicho.

“I know. We were _apparently_ running late, otherwise I would have cooked. _Or eaten outside the store_.” Ichigo muttered to himself, handing Yuzu her pouch of accessories and comb.

“Maa-maa, and now, who is this lovely young lady?” he asked, trying not to leer and getting cautioning looks from the darker siblings in the process. “Ah!” Kyouraku affected a look that spoke of an epiphany, “You must be the wonderful Yuzu-chan then?”

“Ah, hai.” Yuzu looked startled, then dipped into a low bow. “It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for taking care of my big brother.”

“It was no problem.” Kyouraku settled himself on the porch, leaning against the next support pole. “Did your big brother do your hair as well?”

Smiling, Yuzu twirled, showing off her entire outfit. “Nii-san doesn't do it often, but I'm very happy when he helps with our hair.”

“He did a very nice job with it. I'm jealous.” Kyouraku grinned, sending a wink in Ichigo's direction. “I never would have pegged him to be able to do something so delicate.” Ichigo gave the captain a dry look but didn't say anything, instead digging into his breakfast in the most _un-delicate_ way possible.

Yuzu nodded, settling into a seiza between the two men. “Nii-san used to do things like this all the time, but we usually don't have the time for it anymore. Now he just does it for special occasions.”

“And today would be quite the special occasion, from what I hear.” Ichigo winced and shook his head in the most subtle way possible, his hand making a cutting motion and Kyouraku gave a small nod in response.

“Oh, yes!” Yuzu chirped. “Nii-san said that he's going to give us a tour of Sei... Sei...” she drifted off, trying to remember the name.

“Of Seireitei. Yes, that would be quite the special occasion, wouldn't it? Are you excited for the fireworks tonight then?”

Getting enough of the small talk, Karin rolled her eyes and slumped next to Rukia's desk, wishing that she had her soccer ball or, heck, even a pair of pants. “Bored?” Rukia asked, looking down at the sprawling pre-teen. Teen, actually, now that she thought about it. “Give me a few more minutes to finish going through these reports and then I'll walk you over to Hitsugaya-taicho's office, how's that?”

Her shoulders stiffened for a moment before Karin looked away and shrugged. “Sure, if you want to.” Sure, they had exchanged (frequent) correspondence via Urahara since the war, but they hadn't actually met face-to-face since the war ended. Well, actually there was that brief time shortly before Ichi-nii got his powers back, where they happened to be at the Shoten at the same time, but that didn't really count since they hadn't exchanged more than a handful of words and a short greeting before Karin had to leave for school. She had no clue what she'd even say to him, Karin thought, absently rubbing the white and blue bead Ichi-nii had laced into her hair.

“And... done!” Rukia gave a small cheer, gleefully stamping the thirteenth's seal on the last form and placing it in her outbox. She hadn't actually had that much paperwork to do, since Ukitake-taicho was having one of his good weeks and she had worked hard to plow through more than her share of paperwork the past few days. Still, it was good to get done early enough to hang out with Ichigo and the twins (Read: bail him out of potential confrontations) for the rest of the day. She had already gotten permission from Ukitake-taicho earlier and was ready to have some quality festival time. “Ready to go?” she asked, which got a scoff in return.

“More than ready.” Karin replied, only tripping a little when she rolled to her feet (flashing more leg than was strictly proper in the process). “Let's blow this popsicle stand.”

Suppressing a laugh, Rukia waved over to Ichigo. “You mind if I take Karin-chan to Hitsugaya-Taicho's office?”

“No. Thanks for taking her, Rukia.” Ichigo looked over, making sure to catch and hold Karin's eye. “Make sure you meet up with the rest of us before the fireworks tonight, ok? Please don't be late.”

“I don't see what the big deal is.” Karin rolled her eyes and Ichigo raised his eyebrow in response. “ _Fine_. I'll meet up with you.”

“On time?”

“...Yeah. I'll be there. _It's not like I'll get into any trouble, I'll just be with 'Shiro. I don't know why he has to be such a worrywort.”_ Karin muttered, waving off Ichigo's _look_. “C'mon Rukia, let's go.” she said, walking off.

Rukia looked between Karin and Ichigo, giving him a wince of sympathy. “I'll make sure Hitsugaya-taicho knows what's going on.”

“Aa, thanks Rukia.”

So maybe the kid wasn't so far off from acting like a captain, Kyouraku shrugged, if his 'I'm a Taicho, you have to listen to me' voice turned out to be anything like his 'I'm your big brother and you're _my_ responsibility' voice. “So I take it that Karin-chan's a bit of a handful.” he quipped, receiving identical dry looks. _Ah, I see the family resemblance now._

“We usually all go off and do our own thing,” Ichigo shrugged, “Its how dad raised us.”

“And we're not dead yet!” Yuzu chirped and Ichigo just happened to be drinking at the wrong moment and choked. “Nii-san, are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Ichigo choked out, “peachy.” Considering that Karin was the only one (that he was aware of) that hadn't at least temporarily died in the family. Then again, he had heard rumors that Urahara was training her and he had a tendency to _kill_ his students in the process.

* * *

Rukia knocked on the Juubantai-taicho's office door. “Kuchiki Rukia fuku-taicho requesting admittance.” She called through the door. 

“Ente-”

“Rukia-chan!” caught unaware, Rukia was bowled over by an overenthusiastic Orihime. “It's been so long!”

“Aa, it has. How are you doing, Orihime-chan? I heard that you had come today.”

The girl nodded with a grin, putting a finger to her lips. “Rangiku-san and the rest of the SWA gave me a really important mission.” Orihime stage whispered, dramatically holding up a camera. “They want me to take pictures of Kurosaki-kun!”

Stepping out from behind the door frame, Karin gave a small laugh and tilted her head to the side. “If they wanted pictures of Ichi-nii, all they had to do was ask. Yo Toshirou.” she greeted, holding up one hand.

“...What the hell are you wearing?” Toshirou finally bit out, confused and offended on Karin's behalf.

“ _Smooth Taicho_.” Rangiku muttered, going over to give Karin her own hug.

“I know, right?” Karin crossed her arms, but allowed Rangiku to hug her anyway. “Yuzu made me. And then Ichi-nii made me do my hair.” She absently rubbed the bead, hiding an unsure look in her eyes. “I can't move and I feel like one of Yuzu's dolls.”

Studying her for an uncomfortable moment, Toshirou gave a sharp nod. “Stay here.” Then walked out a side door.

“Um...?” Karin gave Rangiku an unsure look, seeing as the older woman likely knew her captain better than anyone else.

“Don't worry, Karin-chan. I'm sure Taicho has his reason.” Rangiku gave her a worried smile and led her to the couch.

“Yes, Karin-kun, you do look really pretty in your yukata, you probably took Hitsugaya-san by surprise!” Orihime tried to comfort, but didn't quite hit the correct words.

“Here,” Toshirou returned, thrusting a black pile of cloth into Karin's hands, “You can go change in there.” He tilted his head toward the room he was just in. Taking the cloth with a small smile, Karin nodded and moved off to change.

“Taichou!” Rangiku admonished. “Karin looked very pretty just for you and you made her _change_ into one of your _boring uniforms_?” Toshirou gave Rangiku a dry look and shrugged, going back to digging through some of his cabinets.

“I can _move again!_ Bwahaha!” Karin announced herself, sliding the door open dramatically and cackling evilly. “Thank's Shirou, you're the best!” She exclaimed, giving a double thumbs-up. Standing in a decidedly un-feminine wide stance, Karin showed off the black hakama that she had thrown over her yukata. “But, um... You gave me an extra sash.” She held up one of Hyorinmaru's green sashes.

Toshirou nodded, gesturing for Karin to come over. “Come here.” He ordered, gently taking the sash and quickly using it to tie back her wide sleeves.

“...Oh!” Karin grinned and chicken winged her arms a few times, “This is much better! I can really move now!”

“Good.” Toshirou brushed the small bead in Karin's hair before moving back around to her front and picking up his foot ball, tossing it to the (shorter!) girl. “Hurry up Kurosaki.” He spoke, moving to the main door without looking back.

Karin blushed, knowing that every one of Toshirou's gestures were intentional, including touching the bead. He had seen the snowflake. And he had given her one of his own sashes to use. “Right. I'm totally going to kick your ass, Shirou!”

“Did you hear that?” Matsumoto whispered, barely squashing a squeal of excitement.

“Hear what?” Rukia asked, staring after the open door that the two 'kids' had just left. Never, in all her time with the Gotei 13, had she ever witnessed Hitsugaya-taicho, admittedly one of the hardest working taicho in all 13 divisions, just drop work to go _play_.

“Or should I say _not_ hear, ehh?” Matsumoto winked, only to receive two blank stares. “His _name_.” she whined, “Karin-chan called her _Shirou_ and he didn't go all 'It's Hitsugaya- _taicho,_ '” Matsumoto dropped her voice, badly imitating Toshirou's scowl. “Not even Momo-chan gets away with anything less than that!” Sometimes she felt like a proud mother when it came to her taicho, and nothing could change that. Her precious little Taicho-kun.

“Yeah, that was weird.” Rukia murmured, hand cupping her chin in contemplation.

“They make such a cute couple though!” Orihime exclaimed, prancing over to the window and fiddling with her camera. Soi-Feng-Taicho had given her one of the Onmitsukido cameras that while small enough to easily hide, had an incredible zoom ability. Taking careful aim, Orihime was able to take a wonderful shot of the young 'totally _not_ a couple' sparring for the ball in one of the middle of the training fields.

“That reminds me,” Rukia remembered at the last minute, “Ichigo wanted me to ask Hitsugaya-taicho to make sure that Karin met back up with him and Yuzu before the fireworks tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, for that _thing_!” Orihime chirped, looking up from her camera and deciding to save the rest of the film.

“What thing?” Rangiku asked, always ready for a piece of juicy gossip.

“You know, the _thing_.” Orihime put on her serious face. “But Tatsuki-chan did say that Kurosaki-kun was keeping it a secret.”

“What thing?” Rangiku and Rukia asked again.

“Then again, if I tell you, Kurosaki-kun might get mad at me.” She chewed her fingernail in thought, “but you might also be able to help too...”

“Mou, Orihime-chan,” Rangiku whined, giving Orihime a side-hug, “That just means you _have_ to tell us now!”

“Yeah, I guess I should.” Orihime nodded to herself. “Kurosaki-kun found his mother last week and wants to surprise the twins, so he hasn't told anyone. Isn't that cute?”

“Then how did you find out?” Rukia asked the same time that Matsumoto lit up with a comment about wondering why Ichigo had been cheating on Rukia last weekend. “ _What_?”

The taller redhead nodded, as if confirming her own statement. “Ichigo-kun was eating lunch with Ukitake-taicho and a mysterious redhead academy student last weekend. Mou,” Rangiku plucked at her own hair, “I guess Ichigo-kun really does like redheads then.”

“I didn't know that Masaki-san was an academy student.” Rukia muttered, resolving to take a side-trip to the academy the next time that she had some free time. “With how Ichigo was with his mom, I'm surprised that that was the first time that they had seen each other since she died.” Rukia was thinking back to the dinner last weekend before her mind caught up with the rest of what Rangiku implied. “And Ichigo was _not_ cheating on me. Uh, I mean, we are _not dating_!” She protested, earning skeptical looks from both. “Ichigo can go out with whoever he wants.”

“The lady doth protest too much.” Orihime intoned, earning blank looks from the shinigami, so she stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. “Ichigo-kun told me that Shakespeare said that once.” She said, back in her perky tone of voice.

“Uh... Right.” Rukia gave a blank look, “So, if Ichigo didn't tell anyone in the living world, how did you find out?”

“Oh, that's easy. Tatsuki-chan texted me last night when she went with Ichigo-kun to Sado-kun's concert.. I wish I would have gone, but I wanted to get my homework done first.” Orihime gave her thought a small fond smile. “Kurosaki-kun is really popular when he goes on stage too. Oh, Oh! And,” she waved her hands around in excitement, “I heard that Kurosaki-sensei got a _love note from Masaki-san,_ so he's on a date here somewhere. Isn't that romantic?”

“You mean that Shiba-Taicho is back?” Rangiku asked in quiet shock.

“Who?” Orihime asked, “I was talking about Kurosaki-kun's father.”

“Yes, I know that,” Rangiku waved the younger girls away, worrying her knuckle. “Oh, this could be bad. Really, really bad. I mean, yeah, most of the other exiles were excused, but Shiba-taicho? He had nothing to do with any of the others.” Catching Rukia's confused look, Rangiku gave her a sympathetic smile. “It must have been about, oh, nearly twenty-five years ago by now. I don't think you were really involved with things outside of your own division at that time, but Shiba Isshin was the taicho of the tenth before Toshirou-kun. I mean, Hitsugaya-taicho. Actually, now that I think about it, that was about the same time that your fukutaicho passed.”

Rukia nodded, “Shiba Kaien-dono.”

“Well, one day, Shiba-Taicho went off to the living world with... Aizen... and was reported KIA...” Rangiku trailed off, pieces falling into place. “...Oh.”

Rukia nodded in agreement, “Aizen likely thought that the Shiba were a threat.”

“And in a way,” Rangiku gave a wry smile, “he was right. Explains so much, but he doesn't really remind me of one.”

“I wouldn't say that. Sometimes I still have to stop from calling him Kaien-dono when he gets a certain way.” Rukia confessed. “But, now that I think about it... Isshin-san does look especially Shiba-like. And then there's their home life...”

“So Kurosaki-kun is related to Kukaku-san?”

Matsumoto nodded in confirmation. “Cousins, If I remember correctly. Though Kukaku-san is the currently head of what's left of the main family, and Shiba-Taicho was head of the branch family.”

“Does Kurosaki-kun know?” Orihime asked, for which the shinigami exchanged looks and shrugge

“Only if someone told him.”

“And if not, he'll likely find out tonight anyway. Shiba-taicho isn't exactly... Subtle.” Rikia had to agree with her fellow fukutaicho. While she had only seen Isshin-san interact with his children on a constant basis, she could see that he had quite the... gregarious personality. “Anyway! I'll make sure that Karin-chan and Taicho-kun get there early.”

“That'd be great. Just remember, it's apparently supposed to be a secret."

“Of course, of course.” Rangiku nodded, shepherding Rukia out the door, “I'll even bring snacks for the show!” That brought a crooked grin from the shorter girl's face. No matter how this went down, there was bound to be at least some entertainment value.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't intentional, but Karin has somehow become modeled after my own sister.


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey,” Ichigo waved, pulling Rukia from her thoughts, “You got Karin over to Toshirou ok?”

“Hmm...?” Rukia studied Ichigo's face until the teen squirmed before looking away. “Oh, yeah. Hitsugaya-taicho gave Karin-chan a pair of hakama and last I saw they were playing out in one of the fields.”

Ichigo grimaced but nodded anyway. “That's good. I just... when was the last time it rained?”

“Last night. Why?” Ichigo winced sighing at the inevitable.

“Well, at least she started out the day clean.”

“Oh?” Kyouraku, “You don't believe that your sister will stay clean?” To which Ichigo mumbled something and Tatsuki started cackling from where she was lying with her head on Ichigo's thigh.

“You kidding, right?” She rolled to look at the pink taicho. “There's yet to be a mud puddle that that kid has yet to find. I've never seen a kid that's been so prone to getting stains on her clothes in my life!”

“I think she does it on purpose.” Ichigo muttered, absently plaiting a section of Tatsuki's rattail.

“Oh, I _know_ she does it on purpose.” Tatsuki handed Ichigo one of the tiny rubber hair ties that must have escaped Yuzu's pouch earlier. “I saw her practicing out in one of the fields once and she told me 'what's the point of life if you can't get a little dirty?'”

“I think I remember that day. Yuzu was _pissed_ when she came home. She made Karin stand out on the back porch while she hooked up the hose.” Ichigo commented, sectioning off for another braid.

“What's so bad with a little dirt?” Kyouraku asked, to which Rukia snorted.

“'A little dirt' he says.” Ichigo muttered, “aside from the fact that Yuzu had _just_ finished waxing the floor and was still putting the furniture back in place? It was that she had left the house that morning with a white shirt on. I think Yuzu ended up tossing it because she couldn't figure out what half those stains were, let alone how to get them out.” Not to mention that some of them looked like blood from what he had seen. Luckily, none of it was hers, but still.

“Ah! That reminds me,” Rukia perked up, addressing Tatsuki. “How did it go? Is Yuzu-chan with Ukitake-taicho now?”

“Yeah, Yuzu's making nice with Captain White-hair now. Right,” Tatsuki sat up, trailing Ichigo's hands behind her as she dug through her cargo pants pockets. “These are yours.” She handed over the pinwheel kanzashi to Kyouraku, squeaking in surprise when Ichigo hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer so that he didn't have to reach.

“I was looking for these. Did Juu-chan have them?”

“...who?” Tatsuki gave him a blank look.

“Yeah, Ukitake-taicho had them.” Ichigo answered for his friend.

“Juu?” Tatsuki asked, turning to look back at Ichigo.

“Ukitake _Jou_ shirou.” Ichigo shrugged. “They've known each other for a long time Tas.” Ichigo looked at Kyouraku from the corner of his eye, “Right?”

“Longer than either one of us care to admit, I'm afraid.” He said, tipping his sakkat down to cover his eyes. “Much like your relationship, from what I understand.”

Ichigo shrugged and poked Tatsuki in the shoulder. “Your readings.” He reminded, earning an absent swipe in return.

“Right. Yeah.” Tatsuki turned back to Rukia, waiting a moment while Ichigo tugged her back to where he could reach comfortably, then spoke. “Turns out I have a stubborn streak a mile wide. Go figure, right? Um... he said that I have the possibility to be really good at diffusing situations and the reason I didn't develop any overly flashy powers like 'Hime-chan and Sado-san is _because_ I've been around you for so long, _Mr. Leaky Sieve_.” Ichigo grunted, but didn't say anything. “So I'm really adaptable when it comes to withstanding others' reiatsu, especially when it comes to high power.” She shrugged, not really surprised about that part of her assessment. She had grown up around Kurosaki turn-the-volume-to-eleven Ichigo, after all. “Though...” Tatsuki thought for a moment before nodding to herself and decided to tell them, “He was really surprised when I told him about the time 'Hime disappeared.”

“Yeah, that.” Ichigo winced, rubbing the back of his head with the memory. “He knew about Inoue-san's disappearance though.”

“But apparently that I could feel her here and not in... wek... Hue...”

“Hueco Mundo. Yeah, the air there's weird.” Ichigo nodded and Tatsuki continued.

“Yeah, there.”

“So... you're able to sense people, correct?” Kyouraku asked, receiving a nod from the humans, “from across dimensions?” Another nod. “That is quite impressive, Arisawa-san.”

“Captain White-hair seemed to think so too.”

“That is because, while most Shinigami, hollows, and other beings with power have their own methods for tracking others, it has a tendency to only be within a limited area around the caster. You, it seems to me, have a near-limitless area of influence. There is a possibility, with enough time and practice, that you may even be able to track beings in Hueco Mundo as well. That could be... quite useful, If I dare say so myself. Tell me, Arisawa-san, can you track anyone, or do you need a certain amount of exposure before being able to do so?”

Tatsuki shrugged, “I tracked you by just holding your hair pins. Then again, you were holding something that Sado-san had been holding beforehand.”

“Would you care to try to track someone else? For curiosity's sake, you know.” Kyouraku asked, wanting to see the process for himself and see if he could suss out something that his colleague hadn't picked up.

“Uh, sure. Who do you have in mind?” Tatsuki asked, already absently scanning her surroundings.

“How about Dad?” Ichigo suggested, tying off a third braid. “What?” Ichigo responded to a look that Tatsuki shot over her shoulder. “He should be here some time today, what with how he was going on all week.”

“Yeah, he's been here almost as long as we have.” Tatsuki gave Ichigo a dry look. “I don't even need to try for that one.”

“Oh.” Ichigo winced. He should have been able to tell at least that much himself.

“You really need to work on being able to sense people. I knew you were bad at that sort of thing, but that just sucked.” Ichigo nodded, deciding that he was bored of just sitting around. Tying off the rest of her hair, including the three small braids, in a ponytail at the base of her neck, Ichigo stood up and stretched.

“Oi, you wanted to go to the eleventh, didn't you?”

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow, “Those were the ones you were telling me about, weren't they? Sure, I'm game.” She gave a shit-eating grin that said without words that she practically belonged in the eleventh. “I'll kick all their asses.”

Ichigo snorted, nearly laughing at Kyouraku's genuine look of concern. “Hah, we'll see. You'll slaughter the cannon fodder easy, but I wouldn't be surprised if you finally got a challenge when it came to the seats.” Hoisting Tatsuki up, Ichigo gave the captain a reassuring look. “I'll make sure to introduce you to Ikkaku first, just in case.”

“Please be careful, Arisawa-san. The eleventh is a bit of a crude lot and I wouldn't want you to get injured.”

“You don't know me very well then,” Tatsuki grinned, “I like 'em crude. Means I can kick manners into them and they don't try to pull that 'girls are weak and need to be protected' crap.”

“I don't care if you can kick my ass,” Ichigo replied. He knew that was a barb from long ago, “I'll protect you just as much as I expect you to have my back. Same with you Rukia.”

The shorter girl nodded. “I know. Go have some fun already. I'll watch over Yuzu in the meanwhile.”

“Thanks,” he nodded, “I don't know how long It'll take to find Ikkaku, but I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Take your time.” waving absently, Ichigo led Tatsuki out of the thirteenth.

“So... Where did I stop last night?” Ichigo asked, taking the path at a steady pace, Tatsuki easily keeping up. “I think it was Yachiru.”

“The captain's daughter, right?”

“Yeah,” Ichigo smirked, “But I don't suggest saying it like that to her face. The next one would be Ikkaku then.” Ichigo said, thinking about how to describe the man.

“The one that you told captain pinky that you'd introduce me to.”

Ichigo nodded. “In a way, he's the one that runs the division most of the time, even though he's only the third seat. Him and Yumi, ah, Yumichika is the fifth seat, are the ones that deal with most of the day-to-day stuff like training and paperwork.”

“What about the fourth seat?” She asked, sure that Ichigo had mus-counted. Or the fourth seat wasn't someone to talk about.

“Technically Yumi is, but he doesn't like having a seat called 'death' (cultural note: 'four' and 'death' are pronounced the same way, so four is considered an unlucky number. Much like 13 being bad luck.), so that one's left empty.” Tatsuki nodded, understanding why someone would think that way. “But, yeah. If you have any issues, go to one of them and they'll help you sort it all out. Not like I think you'll have many issues. Seriously, if you have any issues, a punch in the face is as good as asking them to stop whatever they're doing.”

Tatsuki snorted, “The more you tell me, the more and more I like them.”

“Thought you would. Renji was from the eleventh also, apparently.” At Tatsuki's blank look, Ichigo chuckled. “The red pineapple we ran across earlier. The lieutenant.”

Blinking, Tatsuki thought back, trying to remember. “The... he was running a chore and couldn't come to the fireworks tonight.”

“Yeah. Byakuya, Rukia's brother, tends to be strict about rules, so I'm not surprised that Renji got stuck in the division. He'll probably have tomorrow off to make up for it though.” Ichigo shrugged, not all that worried. “The only problem I see you having is the idiots forgetting that you're going in barehanded. Though, if you want, I don't doubt that someone will toss a training sword your way. Just, do me a favor, ok, and stick around Ikkaku or Yumi. I'm not worried about you being able to take care of yourself or not, but I wouldn't put it past one of the idiots trying to pull a fast one on you. There's some of them that don't even like Yachiru being there, despite her being their lieutenant.”

“That just means I'll kick their asses first and get it out of the way.” Ichigo gave a small permissive nod, to which Tatsuki grinned. “It just sounds like they'll be the most fun to fight.”

Stopping before a large gate, Ichigo gestured for Tatsuki to enter first. “And here we are.” He commented, looking around.

“Who are we looking for again?” Tatsuki asked, looking around also, giving the random shinigami in the front training yard a dangerous look.

“A cue-ball and a guy with a fondness for feathers.” To which Tatsuki snorted at his description. “You can usually find Ikkaku because he polishes his head, I swear, and Yumi's usually near- ah!” Ichigo exclaimed, spotting Ikkaku's distinctive shine in the distance. “This way.” Weaving through the forest of black-clad fighters and giving them challenging looks, she could barely repress a grin. She liked it here already and the hostility in the air was just the icing on top. Oh, yes, she'd have fun here. Mutters and indignant looks quickly radiated through the crowd, catching Ikkaku's attention before they had made it half way across the training field and he made it over to the pair.

“Yo Ichigo, you here to spar Taicho?” Ikkaku smirked, casually resting his spear on one shoulder. “He's not here right now.”

“You know the answer to that.” Ichigo snorted in response, but with an identical smirk on his own face. “No, I brought Tatsuki here for a play date.” He hitched his hand back, pointing his thumb at the shorter girl that had affected the most unimpressed face that she could muster.

“Yeah?” Ikkaku asked, looking her up and down. “Can she fight?” Tatsuki's response, true to form, was to attempt to punch the man in the face. “Woah!” Ikkaku dodged with an exclamation, nearly caught off-guard.

“I don't know,” Ichigo crossed his arms, “I mean, sure, we've been sparring ever since I can remember and she has a tendency to turn most of her opponents to paste when it comes to the national Vale Tudo championships, but can she _fight_?” Ichigo shrugged. “Maybe.”

Ikkaku, who had been forced to actually slap away one of her strikes, looked impressed. “I _like_ you.” He smirked, holding his hand up in surrender. “So Ichigo's not just pulling my chain. You're pretty and all but-” This earned a kick that he blocked with Houzukimaru's sheath. “Yeah, you're good. So... any particular reason why you chose to come to the eleventh? You know that you could probably get a decent spar in near any of the other divisions.”

“Yeah,” Tatsuki shrugged, “But I heard that I might actually be able to get a decent workout here. I've been... bored.” That was putting it lightly. She hadn't actually had a decent challenge in forever.

Nodding, Ikkaku looked around, judging the various spars sprawling around the grounds. “Yeah, I think we can accommodate ya. Anything in particular you're looking for.”

Tatsuki shrugged, but Ichigo answered for her, “I'd stick with Hakuda for now. We're looking for a spar, not a bloodbath.”

“Yeah,” Ikkaku nodded, “I think we can start you off in the dojo and then we'll see where you can go from there.” He commented, leading the way to the largest building behind the main barracks. Flinging the doors open, Ikkaku looked back to see if it was to her liking, only to see a feral grin as she strode in with a confidence that could not be faked.

“Oi Bitches!” She yelled, flinging the bird up to the room in general, “I bet that not a single one of you lily-white asses can take me down!” Silence was her response as all activity in the room ceased. Slowly, mutinous mumbles started in the back and quickly spread like wildfire.

Rolling his eyes skyward in a quick prayer, Ichigo hoped Tatsuki knew what she was getting into before stepping up and putting a restraining hand on her shoulder, speaking just loud enough for the room to hear him. “Be careful, Tatsuki. Remember, these people fight for a living,” he gave her shoulder a brief squeeze, “so don't damage them too much.”

Startled, Tatsuki gave a small laugh and Ikkaku grinned, “Right. I'll behave.” She thumped Ichigo's shoulder and walked to the middle of the main ring. “So. Which one of you is going to be my first bootlicker?” It took a few confused seconds of the shinigami challenging each other with their eyes before the first one gave in with a yell and attacked. Tatsuki didn't hold back and kicked the man in the head, blasting him back into the crowd. “Next! Or are you a bunch of talentless cowards and I have to go somewhere else for a decent fight?” To top it off, she gave a come-hither gesture with her middle finger.

“Oi,” Ichigo turned around to leave, clapping Ikkaku on the shoulder, pulling the man's attention for a moment. “Watch her, will ya?” he asked, low enough that only Ikkaku heard him.

“Yeah. Your sister?” he asked, watching the... he wouldn't dare call it a spar any more than it was a beat-down.

“Sometimes it feels like it, but no. That'll be a few years, but I don't doubt that Karin will somehow find her way here too.” Ichigo shook his head, “More like my second, if they don't mind twisting the rules further.” He commented wryly and they exchanged smirks.

Looking out the corner of his eye, Ikkaku eyed the red haori. “I heard something on that. Should I congratulate you or what?”

“If you want. I haven't said yes or no yet.” Ikkaku nodded in understanding, but didn't say anything. Taking his opportunity, Ichigo left with one last statement: “I'll be back in a few hours. Try to keep her in one piece until then.”

“I make no guarantees. You know that.” Ikkaku muttered, but internally promised that he'd try his damnedest to watch out for the girl, whether she actually ended up needing it or not. And from the third, make that fourth, one of his men going flying in less than a minute, he didn't think that he'd have to be too worried on that front. “Come on you slackers, it's just a human girl! She's not even full-grown yet!”

“Are ya callin' me short?!”

* * *

“And... there we go.” Ukitake practically crooned, color blooming over the paper shyly. For a moment, he had been worried that nothing would show, despite the remarkable responses that he had gotten during her sister's siblings and family friend. Yet still, it was nothing like he had come to expect. Sure, he had seen similar responses in the past, but even in comparison to those, this was pale. The size though, that was what he had come to expect from the Kurosaki family. On a smaller piece of paper, it was likely that nothing would have shown and she would have been ejected from testing, which would be a shame. Tracing what seemed like a bright blue ring, Ukitake smiled. “I heard that your family owns a clinic. Do you volunteer to help by any chance?”

Yuzu nodded enthusiastically, petting between Raku's ears absently. “At least a few times a week, especially when one of the harder cases comes in and Papa needs an extra set of hands.”

“And do you enjoy that work?”

“I like helping people. I don't like seeing them hurt or sad, so it makes me happy to help heal them. Would you like me to get you more tea?” She asked, gesturing to Ukitake's near-empty cup.

Humming, Ukitake tilted his head slightly to the side. While the girl was closer to the carafe, she was, technically, his guest. But then again, she _did_ offer and it would be rude to refuse. “If you don't mind, that would be lovely.” He got the sense that she often played hostess and was happy to do so, even when she didn't need to. Standing up easily in her yukata, Yuzu pulled her sleeve back enough to not trail the edge near any of the ink when she grabbed Ukitake's cup. “If you don't mind me being curious, have you ever trained in the tea ceremony?” it was certain that neither of her siblings carried the same type grace in their everyday lives.

“Oh, yes!” Yuzu chirped, easily refilling the glass and moving to his side before kneeling and replacing the cup exactly where it was resting previously. “I volunteer at one of the local temples on the weekends and one of the older miko started teaching me a few months ago. I find it quite fascinating.” Standing up, she moved back across from Ukitake and sat back down, Raku climbing back up onto her lap. While the movements were unnecessary, it did remind him greatly of the movements of the ceremony.

“Well, if you ever have the chance, we do have a few traditional arts clubs, including a tea ceremony club, that I'm sure that you would be more than welcome to join. Our Sou-Taicho actually runs it in his free time and he is always looking for new attendees.” He offered, giving her something to think about. “Now, would it be ok with you if we try something a little different with your reading?” He asked, digging through the box, pulling out the entire stack of papers before finding a single black sheet in the bottom. “They do say, I believe, that light can only be best understood in the dark. I wonder if we might get a little more color if we start with black instead of white, since it seems like you truly are as pure as your siblings have led me to believe.” Blushing, Yuzu nodded and held out her hand once again for the glyphs. Pressing her hand to the black paper, her aura was just as hesitant as before before blooming out, ending in a hard corona of blue that faded out on either side of the line.

“Oh, much better!” Indeed, there were more colors inside the corona, though muted and bleached out by a background of white. Stars and streaks of peaches and pinks, while a cream and brown hovered just under the surface. Shooting stars of pale yellow danced in the middle. And, flickering at the very edges of the paper, were a few, very small and overlooked, red-orange streaks. In fact... Ukitake looked up at the cat sitting innocently on the girl's lap. He hadn't said anything previously, but the power emanating from the feline was less like a normal animal that would sometimes wander its way into Seireitei, but more like a zanpakutou spirit. “I don't believe you told me who your little friend is...”

“Oh!” Yuzu held up her cat, making it face the older man. “Raku, this is Ukitake-san! Ukitake-san, this is Raku, my cat.” Holding out his fingers for the cat to sniff, it promptly looked away and wiggled out of Yuzu's arms, climbing up to drape itself around her neck. “He died and came back to say goodbye before coming here. I'm happy that he made it safely.” Ukitake nodded in agreement, though his curiosity was still peaked. He had a feeling that unless the cat itself learned how to speak, it would be quite a while before he got any answers. He would have to keep an eye on that cat. Was it possible to manifest a zanpakutou spirit before attaining shikai? It would not surprise him where the Kurosaki siblings were concerned. It seemed that they were the exception that proved the rules.

“He's very lovely and I'm glad that he made it as well. I'm more surprised that he remembered you after crossing over. You must be a very memorable person, Yuzu-chan.”

Frowning lightly, Yuzu shook her head, her hand absently playing with one of Raku's ears. “Not... really.” She demurred, intentionally leaning over her reading. “What does this mean?” She asked, pointing at the yellow shooting stars.

Bending over, Ukitake studied the colors carefully, “Well, in this case, I would say that you an optimist, but sometimes you can take criticism harshly. I can pretty much guarantee that your room is spotless, isn't it?” He asked in a teasing tone receiving a nod in return.

“I like to clean, so I do pretty much all the chores around the house, including cooking. I don't mind.” Ukitake hummed, deciding not to say anything since he got the feeling that he wasn't getting the whole picture when it cam to this family's dynamics. It seemed that not only was she sheltered, but her whole existence was centered around the house and her care for others. Was there not a selfish bone in this child's body? The brown lying just under the surface of the turquoise barrier. It spoke of ingenuity, but a severe lack of confidence on her part. In a way, she reminded him of when Rukia was first starting out. She was confused and completely out of her depth when it came to matters of the world, let alone the world of shinigami. She needed someone to cling to until she could move on her own, like he had asked Kaien to be.

The cat meowed and Ukitake gave a small smile. Yes, at least she had this mysterious power that seemed intent on protecting her. He had a feeling that its power was hovering just outside of her own, and that was where the flickers of Orange-red confidence had been borne. But that had to be a mystery to solve another day. For now, the cat was not hindering her in any way that he would deem dangerous. “Do you have any other questions?”

Thinking for a moment, Yuzu gave a small shake of her head and a brilliant smile. “No, Ukitake-san. I'm just glad to see at least a part of Ichi-nii and Karin-chan's world, but I think I'll stay in my own world for now.”

Humming, Ukitake gave a small nod and stood up. “Then I guess that we're done here. I'll walk you back to your brother.” He said, gesturing for Yuzu to exit first. “I do think that if you find someone to talk to, Yuzu-chan, that your confidence will shine out much brighter. There are very few souls that carry that much purity in their center, so that makes you a very special child. I do hope that nobody breaks your heart. You don't deserve pain like that.” Yuzu nodded in agreement, her eyes flashing a pain that said that she had already been damaged, but had managed to heal; at least somewhat. Speeding up slightly, Yuzu gave her brother a hug, hiding her face until she could bury the darkness once again. It wouldn't do to let others see her hurt. She had to stay strong so that her siblings could walk their own path without worrying about her.

“Hey Yuu,” Ichigo smiled, putting his hand on her head. “You ok?”

“Uh-hmm,” she nodded, surreptitiously wiping her eyes off on her brother's clothing. “Where did Tatsuki-nee go?” She asked, looking around and not spotting the older girl.

“Ah,” Ichigo brushed the back of his head sheepishly, “I actually left her with some friends that I was telling her about last night. I'll go pick her up in a few hours and you can come with, if you want. Otherwise...” he shrugged, looking around. “Anything you want to do, or caught your interest on the way in.”

“Tatsuki-nee's fighting again, isn't she?” Yuzu huffed, puffing up her cheeks in a show of annoyance, “She's almost as bad as you.”

“Busted.” Ichigo was chagrined, “Yeah, I dumped her in the middle of one of the training grounds and told her to go nuts.” He shrugged, “Its not like Tas was complaining at the time.” No, no she was not. In fact, he was sure that she would have found her way to a spar sooner or later. It was almost as inevitable as him ending up in a fight or two practically anywhere he went. “So, anywhere you want to go?”

“Not really.”

“How about you just go out and explore?” Rukia suggested, not wanting the girl to sequester herself in the first place that she was brought on a day like this. “Remember, there is a festival going on this afternoon. I'm sure you can easily find something to do.”

“It's your choice.” Ichigo shrugged, generally just enjoying the day. He didn't necessarily have anything to do beyond escorting his sisters and friends around. “I didn't have any plans beyond this,” he gestured out to the gardens and beyond, “So you lead the way.”

“I guess we could just... explore.” Yuzu agreed hesitantly. She didn't really want to walk around in particular, but she didn't feel right, imposing on Ukitake-san for the rest of the day after he had been so kind to do the readings for them.

“Don't worry Yuzu-chan, I'm sure between you and Ichigo, you'll find something fun to do!” Rukia gave a smile before remembering something and reaching into her sleeve. “Oh, and take this.” She gave Yuzu a small purse, curling the girl's fingers around the rabbit-head shaped item. “You can use it to get something pretty or snacks when you visit the festival.” Ichigo gave the shinigami a look over Yuzu's head and the pair exchanged a silent conversation that ended with Ichigo sighing in reluctant agreement. “Just think of payback for letting me borrow your clothes for so long, if you want.”

Reluctantly, Yuzu pocket the purse. It would be rude to refuse, after all, especially after being given a reason like that. Internally, she swore that it would only be used as a last resort. She didn't want to start relying on others' money if she didn't have to. “Thank you, Rukia-nee! I'll be careful with your purse.” To which Rukia waved off, saying that it was a gift.

“C'mon, Yuu.” Ichigo cut in, using the hand on her head to direct her toward the exit. “So... left or right?” He asked, looking both directions. Outside the individual barracks and surrounding areas, the streets themselves were rather utilitarian and maze-like. “Or... Here. Hold on a moment.” Ichigo said, scooping his sister up into a princess hold before leaping up on top of the wall. “Anywhere look interesting from here?” While it still looked like they were in the middle of the Minotaur’s labyrinth, she could at least see further than the next turn in the road.

Looking around, nothing in particular caught her attention, so she pointed in a somewhat random direction. “How about that way, Onii-san?”

Humming in thought, Ichigo followed where Yuzu was pointing before nodding. “Alright. Do you want to take the long way, or do you want to fly for a bit?” Shunpo wasn't exactly true flight, but it was a close enough comparison for a first-timer. If he remembered correctly, it was actually heading toward the more civilian (noble) districts of Seireitei, so that would have a little more activity with various stores and such, as well as some open green spaces that he could even consider calling parks.

Yuzu tightening her grip around Ichigo's neck was more than enough of an answer, but he grinned when she exclaimed that they should fly. With a nod, Ichigo took off. While not completely legal outside of wartime conditions, Ichigo could easily plead ignorance while being able to bring out Yuzu's smile. His youngest sister had been more out of her element than Ichigo had considered when he had agreed to this plan with his parents, but he was sure that tonight would more than make up for pulling Yuzu so far out of her comfort zone. While his speed was not even a fraction of his true speed, it was still faster than Yuzu expected and pulled a startled laugh out of her. “Faster, Ichi-nii!”

Grinning, Ichigo nodded and stepped it up, just enough to be noticeable, but still slow enough to have plenty of time to react to unexpected changes of plan. After a bit, Ichigo realized just where they were heading and looked down at the top of Yuzu's head. “Hey, do you mind if we take a quick detour?” He was sure that she wouldn't mind, especially with what he had in mind. And this would also count as his 'tour all the divisions' somewhat-assignment. Sure, it was a bit out of order, but it just seemed the right time.

Shaking her head no, Yuzu started looking around, trying to see what had caught her brother's attention. From what she could see, it was a larger building, at least compared to its surroundings, with a lot more foot traffic around it than she had seen everywhere else. “Where are we, Nii-san?” She asked after Ichigo had sat her down and made sure that she had caught her balance before letting go. In front of her was a large set of gates with the same symbol that had been where they were earlier, but with a number four instead of thirteen. Also, these were open wide, without gate guards.

“The fourth division.” Ichigo asked, receiving an unimpressed look in response, to which he just gave a grin back. “The hospital. I thought we could both get a tour since I know a couple of the shinigami that work here.” Not that he would tell Yuzu that he knew his way around fairly well because of his previous exploits. He got the feeling that she would disapprove the amount of time that he had actually spent in those walls as a patient.

“It's very big.” Was all Yuzu had to comment, for some reason not actually expecting something so blatantly modern as a hospital in a place that seemed stuck in pre-westernized japan. Nodding in agreement, Ichigo slung a casual hand around Yuzu's shoulders and escorted her in, casually asking around for a 'Hanatarou' until they found a nondescript young man coming out of a supply closet, his hands full of enough linens so that he couldn't see exactly where he was going.

“Oi, careful there Hanatarou.” Ichigo lunged forward, steadying the pile before taking the top half off the shinigami's hands. “Need some help?”

“Ah, Ichigo-san!” he tried for a bow, only for Ichigo to prop up the rest of the linens before they were dumped on the floor. “Sorry, sorry. That... would be wonderful. Thank you.” Yuzu wasn't sure what to make of him, except that she could read genuine gratitude in his features, beyond what would usually be warranted for just an offer to help carry towels.

“It's no problem,” Ichigo easily adjusted his grip so that the pile that he was carrying fit snugly under one of his arms, “Lead the way.” Nodding, the shinigami led the way down a few hallways to a housekeeping cart.

Quickly tucking away his half of the pile, Hanatarou turned to take Ichigo's half of the pile, only to startle. “Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you earlier.” He gave a low bow, “may I help you?”

Cracking a lopsided grin, Ichigo put his pile next to Hanatarou's on the cart before patting Yuzu on the head. “This is Yuzu.”

“Hello.” Yuzu bowed, getting a bow and shy greeting in return.

“And I was wondering, if you weren't busy,” Ichigo gave the cart a significant look, “if you could give us a tour around. Is that ok?” He asked, looking between his sister and the timid boy. “Or do you need to get back to work?”

Hanatarou grimaced, also looking at his cart. “Ah, actually...” He looked at the small clock tied to the cart's handles. “I need to start doing rounds again.”

Ichigo nodded, glad that Hanatarou was actually using his skills for what they were meant for, for once. “Changing any bandages? I'm good for that much, at least. And Yuzu's better than me.” Hanatarou gave Ichigo a judging look, before looking over at Yuzu. “She actually helps in the clinic that dad runs practically every day. More than I do anyway.” Ichigo grinned, seeing Hanatarou's look shift to a more welcoming one, “And she actually has a decent bedside manner- unlike me.” Ichigo gave a self-depreciating look and Hanatarou returned a half-embarrassed one.

While Ichigo had indeed volunteered and helped various fourth division members when he could, he had eventually been relegated to dealing with 'difficult, but low-risk' cases because of his proficiency in speaking eleventh-ese. Echos of 'Stay still, dammit, or I'll make you!' still rang in the boy's ears, remembering more than one incident that he had... 'supervised'. Mentally going over his charts for the day, Hanatarou eventually gave a hesitant nod. “You can help. But if you upset any of the patients, you'll have to leave.” He shook his finger at the taller boy, doing his best to imitate his mentor's intimidation factor. While he was learning to be more assertive, he still had a long way to go.

Grinning, Ichigo covered Hanatarou's wagging finger with one of his hands with an agreeing nod. “We'll behave. I promise.”

“You'd better.” Hanatarou humphed, gathering up his clipboard and supplies from the cart.

Ichigo gave a wry smile, resisting on patting Hanatarou on the head (like he had a tendency to do with everyone he found cute that was below his shoulder-height) by putting his hand on Yuzu's shoulder instead. “Lead on then.” Giving Ichigo one final warning look, Hanatarou gave a decisive nod and led the way.

“Yuzu...Chan?” He asked, looking back at the girl that Ichigo was leading around.

“Yes?”

“I... Um...” Hanatarou looked away for a moment, blushing. Now that he had drawn her attention, he had to actually say something. “Ah... who are you?” _Smooth move Hana._ Hanatarou sighed, resisting (barely) the temptation of slamming his head into the nearest wall.

“Oh!” Yuzu blushed, realizing that her brother hadn't done any introductions beyond her first name. “Kurosaki Yuzu, Ichigo-nii-chan and Karin-nee-chan's younger sister.” She bowed with an open smile. Hanatarou blinked, looking between Ichigo's bright orange hair and scowl and Yuzu's tawny hair and sunny smile. They had the same eye color at least, now that he looked closer.

Pulling out of his reverie, Hanatarou bowed back. “Yamada Hanatarou. Co-Third seat of the fourth division and head of the fourteenth advanced relief team.”

“Hey, you got promoted!” Ichigo grinned, genuinely happy for the boy.

“An-and you did too... Kurosaki-taichou.” Hanatarou replied, eying the bright-red haori with interest.

Tilting his head in a so-so gesture. “You don't have to call me that, you know that. You healed me when I was still being called a Ryoka, so you don't need to be formal with me. Besides,” He pinched the haori between his fingers, “I haven't even said yes yet.”

“Then...?”

“Rukia.” He said by way of explanation, to which Hanatarou nodded in understanding. Honestly, he didn't actually know either of them that well, but if rumor was to be believed... well, it was no surprise that Ichigo was doing something just for the sake of the thirteenth's fukutaicho's happiness.

Reaching a pair of doors, Hanatarou held them open for his guests. “This is the long-term ward.” He explained, leading to a particular door. “Sometimes we call them the guest rooms, since some of our frequent patients end up decorating their rooms in their stay.”

“Like Ukitake-taicho.” Ichigo commented, spotting the door that he recognized as belonging to the room that the sick captain often ended up using.

“Yes,” Hanatarou nodded, “A lot of the high-level shinigami end up with their own room over time. Including you, Ichigo-san.” Hanatarou gave the taller male a dry look, to which Ichigo looked away and gave an embarrassed cough. That was certainly not something that he wanted Yuzu to know.

“Oh?” Yuzu directed the question to Hanatarou, but was giving her older brother an unamused look. Hanatarou had to blink at her expression. He could swear that he was looking at his taicho in miniature for a moment.

“No-Not that your brother uses it that often!” He hurried to reassure, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, “Anyway, we're here.” He turned, knocking on the door before peeking around it with a smile. “Hirako-Taicho, are are you feeling today?”

“Better. Can I get out'a here already?”

“We'll see, Hirako-Taicho.” Hanatarou said noncommittally, stepping inside the room, leaving it open for the Kurosaki siblings. “If you don't mind, Kurosaki-san is helping me with my rounds today.”

Spotting Ichigo, Shinji gave a dramatic groan, flopping back into his pillows. “Oh, gods, you've got to be kidding me! I thought this was a hospital, not a morgue!”

“Yo!” Ichigo raised his hand in greeting, giving a dangerous grin before leaning against the wall by the door, “As much fun that would be, wrong Kurosaki.”

“Hn?” Shinji blinked in confusion, looking around before his eyes finally landed on the tawny-haired twin. “Aren't ya supposed to have dark hair?”

“That's Karin-chan. I'm Yuzu. A pleasure to meet you.” Yuzu bowed, receiving a bobbed head in response.

“Uh, yeah.” He commented, looking between Ichigo and the girl. “There's two of them.”

“Meet the not-evil twin...” Ichigo shrugged, “most of the time.”

“Yuzu-chan, if you could...?” Hanatarou asked, helping Shinji sit up and peel the top half of his yukata off.

“What the hell happened to you?” Ichigo asked, not moving to help the smaller two.

“Hiyori came to visit,” Shinji winced, sitting as straight as he could. While Hanatarou started on a kido scan, Yuzu started to gently unwrap the bandages around his thin torso. “We got into a small argument and, well, ya know how she gets.”

“Yeah...” Absently, Ichigo wondered if he still had his high-speed regeneration. Not like he would want to find out the hard way any time soon. Small cuts and scratches were one thing... but things like missing limbs and broken ribs sucked. Speaking of, Ichigo looked down at his hand, absently picking off the white bone plates that had healed over the scratches he had received from Raku earlier.

“Hirako...Taicho?” Yuzu asked, drawing the blonde's attention as she pulled away the last of the bandages.

“Hmm?” He looked down, watching her gently prod around his ribs, just enough to feel around, but not enough to cause any undue pain. He blinked, surprised that she had such careful hands.

“I know it hurts, but could you take a couple deep breaths for me?” She asked, focusing intently on his torso. It looked like he had a set of scratches across his chest that were half-healed, enough that the stitches could possibly be removed, but it also felt like he had at least cracked a rib or two.

“Uh... sure.” He nodded, breathing deeply and wincing as his stitches pulled before letting it out in a slow half-wheeze. He did it a few more times until Yuzu looked away and nodded.

“Were you planning on removing the stitches now or waiting for a day or two more?” She asked, sitting on her heels after giving said stitches one last prod.

“What do you think?” Hanatarou asked, wanting to see the human girl's thought process. Looking on from where Ichigo stood with his arms crossed, he could see that the slashes were pretty much healed. And, from what he knew of Shinji's healing, it wouldn't take too much time for them to finish up.

“Well, we could remove them currently. The wounds are certainly healed enough to not need them. But,” She stopped and thought for a moment, studying the blonde captain's face. “If you are planning for any amount of activity beyond a simple walk, I would suggest leaving them in for a little extra insurance.”

Hanatarou nodded, impressed by her reasoning. “Well, Hirako-taicho, are you planning on getting into any more fights this week?” Hanatarou asked with the smallest amount of cheek. Looking at the small Kurosaki, Shinji couldn't help but to be a bit impressed before giving a piano-grin.

“Not that I'm aware of. Guess I won't keep that appointment with Kenpachi-taicho though.” He said with a wistful sigh. Ichigo snorted. Nobody made 'appointments' with Kenpachi. The juggernaut hunted you down if he wanted to 'talk' to you, especially if he was in a fighting mood. A fact Ichigo knew too well for comfort.

“Oh, well, I'm sorry for that. Maybe you could move it to next week then?” She suggested, earning full laughs from two of the men and a half-worried frown from the third.

“Oh, ow, that's hilarious!” Shinji guffawed, holding his still-healing ribs. “Oi, Ichigo, you didn't say that she was a comedian!” Pouting, Yuzu looked around, not understanding what was so funny.

Standing up, Ichigo gave his sister a half hug. “Don't worry about it, Yuu. Shinji was just making a bad joke. Kenpachi, well, he's-”

“A demon!” Shinji hooted, wincing when he pulled his wounds.

“...Violent.” Ichigo corrected. “He's not even someone that I like having... 'Appointments' with. Because either one or both of us usually end up here.”

“...Oh.” Yuzu looked down for a moment before shooting Shinji an 'Unohana glare', “That's not very nice!”

“Aa.” Shinji nodded, “But to each their own joys. Me personally? I like puzzles.”

“So... the monkey still around then?” Ichigo asked, warily looking around. If Hiyori was in a fighting mood, he really didn't want to deal with her. He could almost hear distant screams of 'I am not a monkey!' and suppressed a small smile.

Shinji shrugged, watching Hanatarou set out the supplies for removing his stitches. “Who knows. As far as I know, she left a few hours after she showed up yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Yuzu looked up from the quiet conversation Hanatarou was having with her about procedure. “But then... how long...?” Her eyebrows scrunched in thought as she blatantly stared at what had been obviously deep gashes crossing his chest.

“Yesterday. The only reason I'm here is that little Hana here insisted on keeping me overnight to keep an eye on my ribs.” Squeaking, Yuzu couldn't form any words as she looked from his wound to the captain's face and back. “We heal up pretty quick, huh?” Yuzu nodded, still stunned. The wounds looked, according to the scarring at the edges, at least a week old already. And then that would mean his ribs...?

“They were broken.” It was a statement more than a question as she stepped forward, palpitating over the cracks again. “True six and seven, possibly false one, clustered to the anterior left. Blunt force trauma... A kick?” She looked up, earning a nod in confirmation. “Then how...?” She gestured to, she guessed that she should actually call them scratches, with how fast they were healing up.

“Ah, that's the embarassin' part,” Shinji grinned, running a hand through his hair. “Landed in a pile o' trainin' weapons wrong... And then there was the wall behind 'em.” Yuzu looked up with a sense of horror. Wooden training weapons don't cut. “This is nothin' compared to what yer brother's gone through.”

“Nii-chan!” Yuzu looked over at her brother with a look floating between horror and admonishment.

Wincing Ichigo tried to look away. “Ichigo-san heals very quickly, Yuzu-san.” Hanatarou spoke up, but it didn't do much to soothe her look.

“Yeah. I always have, remember Yuu?” She frowned, suddenly remembering something. Marching up to her brother, she grabbed the hand that she was sure that Raku had scratched, looking all over for the wound. Then switched over to the other hand in confusion. “T'was just a flesh wound.” He tried to joke, holding out the hand that was healed, pointing out the pale pink scratches, “See, you don't have to worry about me.” Growling, she gave her brother a look saying that they would talk more about it later before moving back to Hanatarou and his tools. In contrast with her pinched look, her hands were just as gentle as ever as she worked the small scissors under the knots and snipped them away, using tweezers to gently tug the thread away.

“Yeah, you should see how fast Ichigo heals after he gets an arm cut off or somethin'!” She froze, her scissors mid-snip, before looking up with an expression saying that she was truly sick of the subject before giving a smile that set off little warning bells back in his Hollow brain.

“Do you like jokes Hirako-Taicho?” She asked sweetly, going back to her work, “I heard one a while ago when I was volunteering at the big hospital in Karakura from a nurse that had a really bad day, and I think you might appreciate it, because I thought it was hilarious. She said, if I remember correctly, that nurses are like the ninjas of the hospital staff. They're quick to assess, knowledgeable, everywhere and if one of the patients that is misbehaving mysteriously dies, all they have to do is say 'oops' and go on with their lives.”

Shinji blinked before giving a wide grin, “Ah, I see the family connection now.” He gave a nod, making sure to stay perfectly still for the rest of the stitches. As she finished, Yuzu absently twirled the scissors in her hand, adjusting her grip to a 'stabbing' position before lying them back down on the tray.

With a small smile, Hanatarou handed the pot of healing cream and bandages over next. He'd have to remember that one. He was sure that at least one of the other nurses would get a kick out of it. Not that they would actually do something like that, but it was a nice sentiment anyway. Keeping an eye on her process, he was secretly impressed. After her brother's version of bedside manner, he expected the younger sister to be much the same way. He had seen seated fourth division members that had been working the hospital for years with less finesse than the girl. Then again, with them living over a clinic like he had been told, he wouldn't be surprised if all three siblings had spent the majority of their childhoods in the clinic. It made Hanatarou curious why, on the other hand, that Ichigo-san had such a rough way for treating others and a seeming incompetence beyond the most basic of first aid.

“Because I never really spent much time in the clinic before mom passed.” Ichigo stated. Hanatarou blinked, he hadn't realized that he had asked the question out loud. “After, it was just Dad, so while I was at Karate and other things, he had no choice but to keep the girls busy.” He hitched a shoulder in a half-shrug while Yuzu nodded in agreement, winding the bandaging snugly around Shinji's ribs. “Karin took after the administrative part of the clinic, while Yuzu's always been... more social.”

“I've been allowed to do small things like stitches for a few years already. It's always fun helping to do prep for the EKG though. I've been doing that since I was sev-”

“Six” Ichigo quickly corrected.

“Yeah,” Yuzu nodded, pulling Shinji's bandages maybe a little too tight in a break of her impeccable bedside manner, “Six.”

“ECG?” Hanatarou asked, intentionally looking over the over-pulled bandage. He had heard the initials before, but he didn't actually know what they stood for.

“Electrocardiogram.” The siblings said in unison. Ichigo nodded for Yuzu to continue explaining. “Its a machine that measures how healthy the heart is and we usually use it on some of our older patients. Ours is an older model from when the hospital upgraded, so it goes on a cart that we wheel from room to room.”

“The newer models look, oh, about this big.” Ichigo sketched out the size of a thick laptop or a small scanner. “It's basically a peel-n-stick for the sensor leads.” Ichigo shrugged. “So it's entertaining when someone like, oh, Kyouraku-san would have to be hooked up.”

“Bald patches everywhere.” Yuzu smiled wryly, remembering that Kyouraku-san had been the one in the pink kimono and had not exactly been hairless on his chest. “To make the readings clearer, we either shave the hair or wax it.”

“Or we just stick 'em on with the _really_ sticky sensors so all the hair comes off when we yank 'em off.” Ichigo sniggered, half-hiding his grin in his shoulder.

Yuzu shot her brother a disapproving look, finishing off Hirako-Taicho's wrap. “But mostly we just shave the areas to make it easier on everyone. It's up to them to make everything even after the fact... or save everyone the hassle and do it beforehand.”

“That _was_ hilarious when dad taught you how to do the sensors on himself.” Ichigo commented, “He missed spots. Yuzu found them. And if _she_ didn't, Karin did.”

“I take it Karin didn't do it right the first time around?” Shinji was almost afraid to ask. He didn't even know what the machine actually did, but it sounded like some frightening medieval torture device.

“Or second, or third.” Ichigo said offhand, Yuzu reluctantly nodding along. “I think it got to the point where she was doing it on purpose.”

“She was.” Yuzu confided to the room, “She actually got it closest the first time, but after that she was just playing around because she liked how dad was howling and making a fool of himself.”

“Yeah, that sounds like something Isshin-kun would do.” Shinji reflected, rubbing his chin. “He never could be serious if he could help it.” Getting a confused look from Ichigo, Shinji decided to continue. “You forget, Ichigo, that I was a captain for a long time before we became Visored. I remember your dad from when he was following Retsu around like a lost puppy. That was way before his captaincy though. I did hear that he got promoted before he went off and had you though.”

“Yeah. Tenth I think. Before Toshirou.” Ichigo shrugged, “Not like he's actually told me anything about being a shinigami to my face though.”

“Ya mean he still hasn't sat ya down-”

“...Visored?” Yuzu asked quietly, but still pulled attention back to her. “Is that a special division here or something?”

“Something like that. I take it Isshin hasn't talked to you either? Right,” Shinji rubbed his hands together, giving Ichigo a look and ample opportunity to answer for himself. “Visored are, for all intents and purposes, shinigami that were infected with hollows -you do know what hollows are, right?” He asked, earning a nod from the girl. “There's only a few of us that survived, including your brother here,” He nodded in Ichigo's direction, “so we're more like a specialized group. Y'see, each of us can,” He reached up, positioning his hand like he was holding something invisible before he looked away and gave a gusty sigh. “Right, never mind. Maybe your brother can show you some other time. I forgot that Yama-jii pretty much put the same limit on our masks as he does captains' bankai. ' _not unless absolutely needed, and only in the case of training or battle'._ Bah. Old Geezer.”

Shaking his head, Ichigo gave his own sigh when Yuzu turned her curious stare his way. “I don't know if I even can anymore. He's been... quiet.” Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard a single peep from the white bastard since he and Zangetsu combined for the final battle. And he hadn't been hanging around anywhere he could see when he had visited Zangetsu... It could be possible that he could be hiding, or...

“I know what you're thinking, Ichigo, and I want you to stop that train of thought right now.” Shinji said with a warning in his voice. He could see the boy's eyes start to light up with hope that would only be demolished down the road. He knew the feeling, since he and the other Visored had all felt it at one point or another. “The chances of you getting rid of your hollow is even less likely than you dying a mundane death, so don't even think about it. More'n likely it's just sleepin. You did just get your shinigami powers back, after all. It needs enough time to gather the strength to attack you again.” Ichigo grunted, looking away. “Ya know how I know that? Didn't your sister just say that you had a scratch earlier? It was covered in bone, wasn't it?” Ichigo absently hiding his 'injured' hand in his sleeve was all the confirmation that Shinji needed. With a grunt, he hopped off the bed and turned to Hanatarou. “So... am I free to go?”

“A-ah, yes.” Hanatarou startled, but gave a small nod. “Just make sure you come back in tomorrow so that we can change your bandages, otherwise you're free to go.”

“Good.” Giving a careful stretch, Shinji walked over to Ichigo and clapped him on the shoulder, “I'll tell one of the guys to talk to ya. It would be better to wake it up on your terms, don't you think?” Ichigo grimaced, but wasn't given any time to respond by the blond captain walking out the door.

“So...” Ichigo looked around, trying to think of something to say, “Uh... next patient?”

Hanatarou gave a quirked smile, understanding that the subject was closed. “That was my only patient in overnight, so the next ones should all be in short-term/emergency.”

Yuzu blinked, furrowing her brows in thought, “You work different areas of the hospital?”

“Ah, yes.” He nodded, leading the way out after packing the last of his supplies away. “It's easier on the patients this way. To have as few kido signatures on a single patient as possible in a short amount of time. So all of the higher seats start off the day in the emergency ward, at least those that don't already have appointments, and stay with the patients until they can leave.”

Ichigo nodded in understanding, “It's a better system than we have in our hospitals. One patient interacts with at least a handful of nurses and doctors, even with a simple checkup, so it can get confusing. Though, it's a good way to get a second opinion, sometimes they don't communicate near as well as would be preferred.”

“That's why we get so many people at the clinic.” Yuzu added, “because we're so small, it's usually easy to get information passed around that needs to be.” Then again, passing information tended to be along the lines of Isshin sticking his head out the patient office and calling 'Yuzu, darling, can you get daddy-dearest some more gauze and antiseptic, pretty please with sugar on top?' “Kido signatures?”

“It's how they do most of the healing and taking readings.” Ichigo answered, earning a nod from Hanatarou. “A lot of things we use machines to measure and monitor with, they use energy spells for.”

“Kido is the name we use to describe manipulating our own energy in various ways.” Hanatarou held up his hand so that Yuzu could see a greenish glow surrounding it. “Each person has their own kido signature and to do any readings or healing, we have to insert some of our own energy into the patient's, effectively touching their soul with your own in order to heal. If, say, a patient had multiple healers working on them, the individual energy signatures would get muddled, making it more difficult for all involved to get a clear reading on what has and needs to be done. The only exceptions to this would be during a major surgery where each healer is given their own task beforehand, so they can focus on individual areas, or in a learning situation where the student is piggybacking on their mentor's signature to read the patient.”

“Do you think you could teach me?” Hanatarou blinked, looking at the small girl, to her brother, and back.

“Uh...” He looked to Ichigo, who gave a shrug as if saying 'your call', “I can show your the process and walk you through the patients, but I think you should talk to Isshin-san for actually teaching you how to manipulate your energy. It can be quite dangerous for the beginner, after all.”

“I understand.” Yuzu said with a smile, earning a relieved sigh from the medic. It wasn't that he didn't want to teach her, since she had some wonderful potential with her personality and how powerful her family was, but it would be dangerous until she learned how to manipulate her reiatsu in a controlled manner. “I would still like to help in any way that I can in the meantime.” Patting Yuzu on the head in quiet praise, Ichigo looked around. He was starting to recognize the surrounding area as there were small curtained off beds for privacy and more shinigami loitering around the hallways that obviously didn't belong to the fourth. Sliding toward the nurse's station, Hanatarou had a quick conversation with the head nurse before his old clipboard was exchanged with a new one. Yuzu didn't notice the reserved look that the supervising nurse sent their way, but Ichigo did and sent her a reassuring nod.

Coming back over, Hanatarou held up his new board of assignments with a wry look. “Apparently they're having a rough day with the eleventh, care to play bodyguard while I get them situated out?”

Ichigo snorted, nodding his head. “Sure. Just as long as they don't start screwing around, this should be easy.”

“Yuzu-chan?” He turned to the younger, “These guys can be kinda mean. If you want, I can have you shadow one of the others for a bit while your brother and I deal with them.”

With that spark of Kurosaki determination in her eye, Yuzu shook her head. “If it gets too bad, I can just step back and let you guys take over.”

“Alright,” Hanatarou nodded, “This way then.” He didn't even need to point in the direction he was going, since it was definitely the loudest part of the ward. As they stepped closer, he could hear the same whooping and hollering that he was used to hearing in the training fields of the eleventh. Just around the corner from the room, Hanatarou stopped and took a steadying breath, mentally preparing himself for dealing with some of his least-liked regulars.

“Oi, shut up!” Ichigo bellowed, sweeping into the room ahead of Hanatarou and Yuzu, immediately giving a glare around the room. “Now, who's here to get healed, and which one of you jackasses are going to get hurt?”

“Nii-chan...” Yuzu sighed from her corner of the room, wanting to reprimand her brother for language, but not wanting to draw attention to herself at the same time. Looking around the room, the first thing that she noticed was that whatever fight these men got into, involved someone who loved giving face shots. At least half of them were developing black eyes and split lips. The one sitting on the bed should have had his arm put in a sling instead of hanging limply at his side. And she could guarantee at least one had a limp. As well. If she was being honest with herself, it reminded her of what her brother looked like coming home from school during most of his middle school days.

“A-ano... can somebody tell me what happened this time?” Hanatarou spoke up, barely looking up from his clipboard. “And who needs to go first.”

“Somebody let loose a freakin demon in the hakuda hall this morning, that's what happened.” One of the guys turned their way, obviously having issues with one of his ankles as he leaned against the wall.

Ichigo let out a sound somewhere between a snort and a choke before covering his mouth and looking away. “Did this demon happen to be wearing human world pants and a tee shirt with long back hair.”

“And it was a damned woman too!” Black-eye-guy spoke up with a snarl, spitting a globule of blood into a corner. Ichigo nodded, understanding now why so many of them had black eyes. They were likely the ones with the strongest anti-female sentiments. Catching a look from Yuzu out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo gave a small nod. If Tatsuki was the culprit, these guys likely had a damn good reason to be here instead of just hiding in their bunks.

“Uh... yeah.” Ichigo gave a slow grin, “That was my dragon that I let loose earlier. Sorry for the inconvenience but, well, she was bored and I had to let her out of her pen before she could do something that would need repairs. I guess I overestimated you lot then, if you're here now.”

“Nii-chan, I think we should deal with the dislocated shoulder before the swelling gets too bad.” Yuzu suggested, to which Ichigo and Hanatarou nodded. It was the most obvious wound in the room, and the most time-sensitive one as well.

“Ok, you want to do it and me hold, or do you want to hold him? Hana will heal him after the arm's back in place.” Ichigo asked, all three converging on the bed.

“I'll do it.” Yuzu nodded, hopping on the bed to kneel in front of the guy and look him in the eye with a determined mien while Ichigo walked around behind him and Hanatarou stood to the other side of the bed. “Hello.”

“Uh... Hi?” The guy raised an eyebrow.

“I'm going to give you some instructions and you're going to have to follow them exactly, since if you do not, it'll just prolong the pain for you, and that would be bad, wouldn't it?” Yuzu said with a dreamy cadence to her voice, almost hypnotizing the man and everyone else in the room.

The man shook his head, paused, then nodded. “Pain... is bad.” He spoke distantly, earning a small smile and nod from Yuzu.

“Now, what I'm going to have you do is take a deep breath, hold it for five seconds,” she held up a hand for emphasis, “and then release it over ten. Here, let's practice together, ok? In...” She inhaled and about half the room inhaled with her. Putting one hand oh his arm, below the dislocation, she used her other hand to count down from five. “And now, exhale for ten. One... Two...” She put her other hand on his collarbone. “ _Three_!...” Pushing, she popped his shoulder back into place, having Ichigo take over holding it still while Hanatarou immediately went to work healing the damaged tissue. “Four... Five... Six... Seven... Eight... Nine... and ten. There, do you feel better now?”

“... _Ow_...” The man said in his still-distant voice, not having even flinched or looked away from Yuzu's eyes for an instant.

“Good!” Yuzu chirped, hopping off the bed and looking around, “Who's next?”

 


	8. Eleventh Division

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse Tatsuki's language. ^_^' She gets very... excitable.

Putting a finger to his lips, Ichigo looked around in grim determination. Somehow, it seemed like the entire eleventh and more had converged around the Hakuda halls. The shoji were all thrown open, leaving only the back wall and half of one of the far walls solid. Tucking Yuzu close, he wished that she had stayed behind in the fourth, but it was her decision in the end. “Stay close,” he muttered, gliding through the crowd as smoothly as he could. If that included a few elbows, it didn't matter. Really, if he wanted to, he could have just jumped the entire group or flared his reiatsu, but he was trying not to pull too much attention to himself.

Yuzu, on the other hand, was having second thoughts about coming to the eleventh with her older brother. Sure, she wanted to see what the rest of the Seireitei was like after seeing how wonderful the fourth was, but this was not what she imagined. She would even prefer going back to Rukia-nee, even though she was still at work. The one thing that stayed her shaking legs was her brother's arm around her shoulders. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, here or anywhere else. Moving closer to the really big building that reminded her of some more traditional dojos she had seen pictures of, she could hear the distinct feminine yells that she knew belonged to Tatsuki-nee. At least it didn't sound like Tatsuki was being pushed around, so that was good, right?

Quickly enough, between elbows and glares, Ichigo managed to worm their way up into the building proper and against the solid wall. Giving Ikkaku a nod, he pulled Yuzu to sit between them and gave the building a good look around. It looked like quite a few seated officers had pulled rank some time in the past few hours and sat around the border of the mat in various states of health. “So I take it no troubles?”

Snorting out a laugh, Ikkaku shifted Houzukimaru to his far shoulder. “You kidding me? After that initial fracas, she's been working her way up the ranks all afternoon.” He gave Ichigo the side-eye, but still didn't take his attention from the center of the room where Tatsuki was taking a short break, “Where'd you pick her up again? If she wasn't already yours, I'm sure she'd fit in here without much problem.”

“You can have her in the next lifetime and I'm sure she wouldn't complain.” Ichigo watched a moment before realizing something different about Tatsuki. “Oh, her mom's gonna kill me.” He muttered. Ikkaku gave him a curious look, to which he pointed his chin at Tatsuki. Specifically her head. “Who's the dead man walking who thought it was a smart move to grab her hair?”

Blinking for a moment, Ikkaku looked around before pointing in the general direction of one particularly pathetic-looking soul. “Ah, she said that you'd want this.” Ikkaku picked up a length of braided black hair, carefully tied at both ends to keep the bundle together. “No clue why, since she didn't say.” Grunting, Ichigo nodded and took the queue, stuffing it in his sleeve for temporary storage without saying anything. Walking over to the poor sap, Ichigo took a fistful of the mook's collar and tossed him across the room hard enough to skid along the floor until he impacted the wall. Hard.

“Hey Ichigo.” Tatsuki raised a hand in greeting, taking her surprise at Ichigo's sudden appearance in stride while wiping her cheek free of sweat with a towel one of the guys had tossed her.

“Yo Tas.” Ichigo replied in kind, not taking his eyes off the groaning peon. Dropping down to a knee, he happened to 'miss' the floor and instead ground the joint into the worm's kidney instead. Leaning close, he channeled his inner hollow's grin with a malicious smile before whispering something in the boy's ear. The downed minion whimpered, nodding so forcefully that he managed to bang his head against the hardwood floor several times in the process. “Ok?” Another round of nods, “Now don't do it again. I thought you knew better.” After one last press against the bug's kidney, Ichigo got up and turned to face Tatsuki. “Willing to take a short break and let these guys get their training hall back for a bit?”

Tilting her head in thought for a moment, Tatsuki shrugged. “Sure, I could use a break.” Truth was, the baldie, Ikkaku if she remembered correctly, had made her take a short break between every second or third spar, so she wasn't that winded.

Nodding, Ichigo herded her to where Yuzu and Ikkaku were sitting. “Has Yumichika seen this?” Ichigo asked, sitting opposite Ikkaku so that they formed a circle.

“Tch. Do you think she'd still be out there if he had.” Ikkaku shook his head, “Naw, he's running interference today to make sure the boss gets at least some of his work done. They've all been, supposedly, in the office all day.” Grunting, Ichigo gently placed his fingers on Tatsuki's shoulder and put enough pressure on it to make her turn. She got the hint and put her back toward Ichigo. Humming, He ran his hair through her now dramatically shortened hair, lightly tugging some longer strands that had managed to escape the carnage.

“Think I can borrow a pair of scissors off him for a bit?” Ichigo asked before turning back to Tatsuki and tugging a lock. “You don't mind if I straighten this out, do you?”

“Do what you want.” Tatsuki shrugged, “Mom's gonna kill me for getting it cut anyway, so it might as well look halfway decent.”

“Love ya too Tas,” Ichigo gave a wry look before standing up and looking at Yuzu, “You ok staying with Tatsuki and Ikkaku for a bit, Yuu?” The girl nodded her head and squirmed out of her backpack so that she could sit more comfortably. “Ok, I should be back in a bit.”

“Take your time.” Nodding, Ichigo left to track down Yumichika and, with any luck, still manage to avoid Kenpachi. Rounding the corner, Ichigo was startled when he literally ran face-first into the one person he was looking for.

“Yumi!” He squawked, nearly falling over and catching the others' sleeve so that he didn't do the same. “Just the guy I was looking for!”

“Oh, really?” Yumichika purred, hooding his eyes and giving Ichigo an obvious look-over. “We'd have to bring it up to Ikkaku-kun, but I'm sure that he wouldn't mind.” He licked his lips, “You are legal now, aren't you?”

“Uh... that's... not what I meant.” Ichigo caught himself before he backed up more than a few steps and raised his hands defensively. “Though I am flattered. Really, I am. But no thank you.”

“Oh poo,” He have a dramatic pout, fingering the edge of his hair, “then what did you need me for?”

“Do you have a pair of scissors I could borrow?” Ichigo asked, lowering his hands after telling himself that Yumi knew that no meant no. “No, actually, I know you have a pair of scissors,” he stated, looking at Yumichika's perfectly coiffed locks, “can I borrow them for a bit?”

“Dare I ask why?” He asked with a pointed look toward Ichigo's own messy style.

“There was an... incident in the Hakuda hall while I was gone and I need to fix it before, uh, someone sees.”

Yumichika raised an elegant eyebrow before turning toward the bunks. “If this is as important as you seem to think it is, I'll met you in the... Hakuda hall then.”

“Thanks Yumi, I owe ya one!”

“Hmm, we'll see.” Yumichika purred. Soon after that, Yumichika found his way to the hall and was waved over to a group sitting in the corner.

“Those your scissors?” Ichigo asked, seeing the glint of silver and gold in one of the man's deceptively delicate hands. Holding them up for the carrottop to see, he held them just out of reach.

“First, let me see what needs cut.” He demanded, looking around the group. It obviously wasn't Ikkaku, and the little girl (Yumichika raised an eyebrow at her presence) seemed well put-together, so it was either Ichigo himself or... Ah.

Ichigo gestured for Tatsuki to turn around and she promptly did, baring her butchered hairstyle for all to see. “See what the issue is now?” Ichigo asked drily, holding his hand out for the scissors.

“I have no doubt that you have good intentions, but I don't trust you not to butcher the poor girl's hair further.” To which the girl turned back around and started laughing, prompting Ichigo and the small girl to smile as well.

“Seriously? No.” The girl stated, giving him the dirtiest look he had ever seen from her, even the short times that they had run across each other in Karakura. “First of all, I have no clue who you are, pretty boy. And second, Ichigo's been cutting mine and the twins' hair for years. I'm sure he can deal with a _wittle twim_. He just needed scissors since none of us thought we'd have to bring our own.”

“Chill Tatsuki.” Ichigo said in a low tone. “This is Yumichika. I told you about him earlier.” Turning to the only one still standing in the group, Ichigo gave a small apologetic grin and patted the floor. “Thanks, but I'm sure I can deal with something this small. I just needed the scissors for a bit. I'll give them right back.” Sighing dramatically, Yumichika sank down next to Ikkaku and handed over the gilded instrument. Shifting into place behind Tatsuki, Ichigo took a moment to inspect the gold handled scissors (with a phoenix shape on one half, much like some embroidery scissors he had seen, but larger) before taking the last long strands of her hair in hand and cutting them short. Carefully placing them off to the side, Ichigo made short work of evening out the rest of the back of her hair, much in the same style that she had worn it nearly two years ago. “Now, you willing to tell me how that idiot managed to cut your hair off in a weaponless spar?”

“Ah...” Tatsuki flushed faintly, keeping still so that Ichigo wouldn't mis-cut. “That's the thing about it...”

“We didn't explicitly ban weapons from the hall until after Goteitaishi pulled his zanpakutou during his turn.” Ichigo gave Ikkaku a blank look, making him roll his eyes and mutter something along the line of Kanpachi being the same way. “The guy who you made piss himself.” Still blank look. “The kidney shot.”

“Oh!” Ichigo lit up before scoffing, “That didn't help him too much, I take it?”

He couldn't see it, but Tatsuki gave a proud grin. “Nope.” She popped her 'p' in smug satisfaction, “he kinda gave up after I pulled a Mulan on my hair and pointed his own sword at him after I wrestled it away from his grip.” Diving in for a short hug consisting of slinging one of his arms around the front of her shoulders, Ichigo made a noise between an exasperated whimper and a laugh, burying it in her hair. Only Tatsuki would think to steal a person's zanpakutou to use against them without thinking about it; basically holding the essence of the other person in her hands.

“Icchi!” A screech came from across the hall, making Ichigo duck his head instinctively before gathering his wits.

“Stop!” He ordered, holding a hand up before looking around and locating a cutely curious Yachiru in mid-leap. Secretly surprised that she actually stopped, Ichigo blinked before standing up and stepping away from the group, holding the scissors out where they wouldn't hurt either of them. “Ok... go.” Blinking twice, a smile cracked her face in two before Yachiru launched herself at her favorite carrot top, swinging around his neck to land on his shoulder, much like she usually did with Kenpachi.

“Did Icchi come to play with Kenny?” She asked, unnaturally loud for being so close to her ear.

“Not... really.” Ichigo grinned, easily swinging her to the front so that they could talk face-to-face. “I actually was letting my friend here have some fun instead.”

“Oh.” Yachiru nodded as if that made perfect sense. Wiggling down, Yachiru made her way to standing in front of Tatsuki. “Did you have fun, Icchi's friend?”

“Uh, yeah.” Tatsuki gave an awkward smile, “I did. Are you Yachiru?”

“Yep, that's me!” She crowed, rocking back on her feet, “What's your name?”

“Arisawa Tatsuki.”

“Ari... Risa... Sawa... Tatsu... Tsuki...” Yachiru chewed on the name, studying the older girl and shrugging. “Icchi, what'cha doin?” she asked, walking around to see what he was doing with Yun-Yun's scissors.

“Fixing Tatsuki's hair,” he answered absently, trying to hide a near-bald spot as best as he could. After a bit he just gave up, leaving it to time and her next hair cut to heal. “Tas, you nearly scalped yourself, I hope you know.” He stated dryly, handing the scissors back to Yumichika after wiping them clean on his shihakusho.

“Yeah, well, I'm not going to let a bastard pin me just because I have -had- long hair. _I told mom that it was a bad idea_.” Tatsuki shrugged, turning after Ichigo gave her a permissive pat and found her lap full of Yachiru.

“So,” Ichigo asked, turning to Ikkaku, “where is she so far?”

“Hmm...” Ikkaku scratched his chin and looked around the room. “Well, she flattened Aramaki earlier, so we were going to see if there were any volunteers left or I'd have to take her on next.” Yumichika, who had been looking at Tatsuki cooly, gave her a more assessing look.

Yachiru turned around and looked up at Tatsuki with a wide grin. “Maki-Maki's kinda a coward and isn't really good with his zanpakutou, but he's one of our better hakuda fighters, yep.” She nodded, earning an agreeing nod from Ikkaku and Yumichika. “You're really strong then, huh Tsuki-ki? But not strong enough for Kenny yet. You need a zanpakutou to play with him.”

Tatsuki blinked. “Like one of those overblown kitchen knives Ichigo carries around?” Turning toward the carrot top, she couldn't help but to watch as he turned red in embarrassment, or... well, yeah. Embarrassment. “Where is that thing anyway? You leave that at home too?” The others looked at Ichigo, who looked away, with openly curious looks. Ikkaku and Yumichika had noticed a distinct lack of sword, but hadn't wanted to bring it up. If he really had left his zanpakutou at home in the human world, they would have to pull him aside and give him a word or two on vigilance even during peace times.

“I'm not that stupid.” He huffed defensively, reaching into his other sleeve. Huh so he had actually learned how to seal that monstrosity. Maybe it was a tanto or santoku or something interesting or unique like... a pair of sunglasses?

“You planning on joining the Shinigami Men's Association finally?” Ikkaku asked as if it was the greatest joke in the world.

“Hell no.” Ichigo snorted, perching the glasses on his head, thinking about it for a moment, then sliding them over his eyes. “Old man Zangetsu just has a twisted sense of humor. He... huh...” Looking over at Ikkaku, Ichigo got distracted for a moment looking at the play of shadows over the man's face before shaking his head and deciding it was better to wear them on top of his head instead. “I guess they're not so useless after all.” He stated, looking away like that was all he would say on the matter. It was strange, though. Thinking back that was the first time that he had looked at another soul wearing the glasses. The background like the field that he was in last week and the wooden and paper walls were the same, but to look at a living thing? Yeah, he'd have to be careful or he could challenge how well he could master vertigo.

“Hey, I was thinking something.” Tatsuki spoke up a few minutes later, shifting a bit to deal with the small pink weight on her lap.

“Don't hurt yourself.” Ichigo responded automatically, not really paying attention to anything in particular.

“This is a dojo.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I'm just kinda _hanging out_ in a dojo.”

Ichigo kept his face carefully neutral as he turned slowly to look at Tatsuki. “... _Yeah_...”

“And _you're_ in a dojo.” A nod. “Which happens to be the _same_ dojo.” Another nod and the beginning of curious looks from Ikkaku and Yumichika. “At the _same time._ ”

“Tas...” Ichigo held a warning in his voice, already shifting as subtly as he could to stand up and possibly run. “I don't like where you're going with this.”

“Good.” Tatsuki grinned, gently pushing Yachiru off her lap. “Then we're on the same page then.”

Later on, he couldn't tell what exactly had set them off, whether it was Yuzu's deep sigh, Yumichika's sound of curiosity or something completely incomprehensible in this universe, but Ichigo stood up, turned to run and was tackled by a merciless Tatsuki, all in the same instant. “Clear the floor boys!” Tatsuki crowed, earning an immediate response from the shinigami in the center of the room as she grabbed one of Ichigo's feet and dragged him to the center of the room. “I've got my next victim!”

“Seriously Tas?” Ichigo groaned, looking around for a helpful soul before twisting out of her grasp, he saw nothing but sympathy and a promise to put flowers on his grave in their eyes.

“Shut up and stand up, Chi, I've been waiting for a rematch since we were twelve!”

“And what if I said no?” Ichigo snarled, standing up and brushing himself off anyway.

“Then it's a good thing that it's not up to you now, is it?” Tatsuki grinned, gesturing all around her at the shinigami that were slowly forming a ring for them to fight in. Damn his pride for letting her pull him into something like this so easily.

“You know I'm not afraid to just run away.”

“Uh-huh.” Tatsuki absently adjusted the wrap around her left hand and shook out the last of the pins and needles in her leg.

Sighing, Ichigo shifted his weight to the balls of his feet and gave a few light bounces. “Rules?”

“The usual, if you remember them,” Tatsuki snarked. “Oh, and none of that fancy 'look at me, I have powers' shit.”

Nodding, Ichigo added his own rules. “Not the face? ...or below the belt?” Ichigo squeaked, putting up his guard and ducking Tatsuki's usual opener of a roundhouse kick to the face. Both of them knew that Ichigo never attacked first in a fight, unless he had a good excuse. This just saved them the lead-up of dancing around each other for over a minute, waiting for the other to go first. “Rude.” Ichigo muttered, swinging around to give a return kick that missed intentionally.

“Hey, if you want to keep things intact, you need to defend them!” Tatsuki grinned, remembering the many, many times she had reminded her kohai Ichigo when they were kids.

“Hai _Senpai_.”

She could hear the sarcasm rolling off him in waves as she blocked a few more testing blows. Getting impatient with all this pussyfooting around, Tatsuki went in with a serious swing. “Actually, it's Sensei now, baka!”

“Hell no!” He blocked, using her momentum to swing her around and gave him time to dance away. They could see small smiles blooming on each others' faces and, with a small nod, agreed that they had missed this.

“How 'bout this,” She went in for a grapple, using her smaller body size to her advantage by slipping past his defense. “I win, you call me Sensei, come back to the dojo and be my little bitch.”

“And If I win?”

“I'll say yes.”

Ichigo blinked, pulling back with a silly grin, “Really?” Her response was to knock him back onto his ass.

“Who's the girl?” Kenpachi asked, startling Yuzu enough to make her squeak, drawing his attention to a smaller girl that he had very nearly stepped on. “Better question, who're you?” He couldn't feel even an iota of spirit pressure from the girl, even ignoring all the other signatures surrounding him. He may not be that good at tracking 'em, but he could read them at least, and this girl was practically a ghost.

“Kurosaki Yuzu. It's a-a pleasure to meet you.” Yuzu squeaked, bowing as deep as she could while still in seiza against the wall.

Kenpachi grunted, thrusting his chin toward the center of the ring, “And her?” A Kurosaki, huh? Meant she was strong, even if she was hiding her powers. Or the runt in the family.

“Arisawa Tatsuki-Nee-chan. She and Ichi-nii have been friends ever since I can remember.” Grunting, Kenpachi nodded and slid down the wall, sitting heavily next to the small girl -Yuzu, he would have to remember- to watch the fight. He had wondered where his lieutenant and fifth seat had wandered off to, and now he saw what had distracted them. While Yumi had done a good job keeping him on task with paperwork most of the day, he had been wondering what all the commotion was about. It was a strange thing when the training hall drew more people than the fields did on an average day, but he could see that Ichigo had managed to draw a crowd on his own. Apparently, judging from the crowd, he had been there for a few hours, at least.

“Kurosaki?” Yumichika spoke up, giving the small girl another look-over, “I thought you were supposed to have black hair.”

Giving a small sigh, Yuzu pushed down a small bubble of irritation before shooting the feathered man a winning smile. “That would be my twin sister Karin. I'm Yuzu.” Apparently Karin had been around enough that it seemed like practically everyone knew that she was nii-chan's sister.

“There's two of ya?” Ikkaku looked over with skepticism written all over his face, as if having one sister was barely believable, let alone two. “Any other siblings we should watch out for?”

Yuzu shook her head. “It's just the three of us and papa at home. Though it's nice when Rukia-nee or Tatsuki-nee come over too.”

“OOH!” The crowd winced, following a scramble to get out of the way as a black and orange blur flew out of the dojo, head-first.

“Look who's gonna be my little bitch!” The girl -Arisawa, Kenpachi was starting to like the girl and had to remember her name too- crowed, flinging up her middle fingers. “I'm gonna make you clean all my student's gi's by _hand_. Jeez, no wonder you didn't want to fight me, got a little squishy in the five years since we- hyrk!” Ichigo tackled her, pinning her to the ground and proceeded to attempt to wrestle her into submission.

“Shuddup Tas, I'm not done yet!” Kenpachi couldn't help but to snort and shake his head with a fond grin. He could tell that Ichigo, nor Arisawa if he was being honest, was taking their spar seriously anymore. It had devolved down into a pair of children horsing around while the adults watched. At least in the beginning, there had been some real skill shown, but he had a feeling they knew each other too well to be able to put up a serious fight.

“Kenny?” He looked down, noting that Yachiru had decided it was his turn to play chair.

“Yep.” He stood up, absently scooting his daughter up to his shoulder and pushing through the wall of subordinates to get at the 'sparring' pair. They had separated and Ichigo was going for a kick, which Kenpachi easily snagged by the ankle, allowing Arisawa one last hit before he snagged her by the collar as well. Whimpering, Ichigo slowly sunk to the floor, his leg still being held up in the air. That last kick had connected hard and Kenpachi felt a brief flash of sympathy before giving both teens a shake.

“Hey! What's the big I-” she turned around and looked up, and up. “...dea? Hi?”

Giving the girl a shark grin, he looked down at her. “You two done yet?” Nodding quickly, Tatsuki straightened up, so he let go of both of them. Ichigo, for some reason, had decided it was better to play dead on the floor than to stand up and face him properly. “Good. Have you had dinner yet?”

“You, uh, you're big.” Was all that Tatsuki could say, or think. Ichigo -the twat- hadn't told her how tall this guy was. At least she assumed that this was the guy, what with the tattered white cloak and all. “ _Really_ big.”

“So I've been told.” Kenpachi said dryly. “I'm not going to offer twice.”

“Uh, sure. I could have a bite.” She managed, giving Ichigo a warning kick that he'd better stand up, and soon.

Giving a sharp nod, Kenpachi turned to address the spectators. “Everyone, out! Show's over. You, you're not even mine.” He pointed at a group, growling them out. “Out. Clean up and get to the chow hall! You have thirty and don't be late!” With that, Kenpachi grabbed a fistful of Ichigo's collar and hauled him to his feet, frogmarching him out of the room as well, Arisawa following closely behind.

“Welp,” Ikkaku stood up and offered his hand to Yuzu, “Better do as he says. You hungry? It's not the best chow in the world, but it's food.” Blinking in surprise, it took a moment for Yuzu to react, taking Ikkaku's offer to help her stand.

“Y-yes, that would be lovely.” She replied, making sure to grab her backpack. Mentally, she reviewed what she had packed in their bentous this morning, deciding that it was a good thing that they had offered. She hadn't known that Tatsuki-nee, Sado-san and Orihime-san were going to come this morning, so it would be more like a snack than a meal. Good enough of a spread for before the fireworks, at least. She wasn't actually that hungry, but it would be rude to turn down her hosts after offering. Funny enough, she was usually famished by this time of day, especially since they hadn't exactly stopped for lunch in the meantime.

Following after their hard-to-miss captain, Ikkaku and Yumichika quietly gave Yuzu an abbreviated tour of the division, pointing out different points of interests as they walked to the mess hall. Walking in, Ikkaku led them to a long table at the head of the hall, facing a series of longer tables that were perpendicular to the head one. “Since you're the bosses' guest, you can sit here.” He said, leading her to a cushion that was toward the center. All the tables were low with stacks of plates, bowls and utensils stacked at one end. The food itself was served buffet-style, letting everyone serve themselves as they sat wherever they pleased. The only exception being that the higher ranked members generally sitting closer to the head table.

She hadn't even noticed that Ikkaku had even disappeared for a moment before a bowl of rice was placed in front of her, pulled fresh from the pot. “Oh, thank you.” She smiled as Ikkaku sat down on the end of the table on her right with his own bowl. On her left was the pink haired little girl with who she assumed was her father giving her portions of food and spiriting away any sweets that she had managed to get on her plate first. On the man's other side was nii-san, Tatsuki-nee and the man with feathers at the far end.

“What are you waiting for? Eat up.” The man looked over, noticing that Yuzu hadn't even started serving herself. “We don't stand on manners much here.” He watched, making sure that she did start to eat before turning back to her daughter and swiping yet another sweet bun from her plate. “You know what Retsu said. Three bites of green things or rice before you can have a bite of sweets.” He warned, earning a pout from the girl, who immediately turned to poking at what looked like pickled vegetables with her chopsticks and sighing dramatically. Rolling his eyes, he turned to Ichigo and gave a grin. “Yo, Ichigo, I'm hurt. Came and played with my guys all day, and you didn't even take a moment to pop in and say hi.” He accused, poking his chopsticks at Ichigo's face.

“Wasn't me.” Ichigo shook his head, finishing his bite before thumbing over at Tatsuki. “I just dropped her off this morning and only came back a little while ago.”

“Oh?” Kenpachi raised his eyebrow in mild shock.

“Ichigo promised that I might find a challenge if I ever game here.” Tatsuki broke in, less than impressed. “I have no clue what he was talking about.”

Kenpachi startled the two human girls, releasing a laugh that could have been taken for thunder. “I like you. Didn't find a decent challenge though, eh? If you stick around, something might pop up for ya.”

“She flattened Aramaki right before Ichigo showed up.” Ikkaku spoke up, drawing attention to his side of the table. “Too bad, 'cause it looked like I might have had a go at 'er next... unless you want to?”

“Hm...” Kenpachi gave Tatsuki a thoughtful look. “Kid, you're strong. Impressive, especially since you don't have a zanpakutou or any fancy powers like those others humans have. After you die, come to me and I'll give you a seat. No questions asked. Maybe you can fight me one day then.”

Tatsuki opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or not. Giving her a nudge in the ribs, Ichigo whispered something in her ear, making her eyes flicker between him, Ikkaku and Kenpachi before nodding and turning to Kenpachi full-on and bowing as deeply as she could. “That would be a great honor. Thank you for the honor and I'll keep it in mind for the future.” Sitting up, she looked Kenpachi in the eye with a grin, “You mind if I still come over to spar in the meanwhile?”

Kenpachi snorted, tilting his head in Ikkaku's direction. “I don't mind, but you'd better ask Ikkaku. He's in charge of training.”

“Fine with me! As long as you bring Ichigo so we can kick both your asses at the same time!”

“As if Baldie!” Ichigo immediately shot back, flashing a rude gesture.

“Oh, that reminds me!” Tatsuki straightened up, coming to a decision. Turning to Ichigo, she made sure that she had his full attention. “That question earlier? Yes.”

Blinking in confusion, Ichigo had to think about what Tatsuki was talking about. He had finished his homework, did he offer to help her with hers? Or was it a new video game that he forgot to give back? Or... oh. A slow grin crossed his face before he managed to smother it with a nod. “Good.” He said simply, going back to his rice. A moment later, he leaned over, pressing his arm into hers. “Thanks, Tas. You really don't know what that means to me.”

“Pff, whatever,” Tatsuki shrugged Ichigo off, giving him a good shove away from her and almost into Kenpachi, who raised an eyebrow. “Just because you picked me instead of Sado, doesn't mean I'll let you off easy. You'll still coming back to the dojo on Tuesday. It just means that I'll have to watch you more to make sure you don't pull off any more stupid shit.”

“Is it just me, or are you curious now too?” Ikkaku called over to Yumichika, drawing the attention from the front third of the seats, as well as the feathered fifth seat.

“It seems like a prearranged agreement to me.” Yumichika commented flippantly, eying the two with bedroom eyes, making the teens blush red.

“It's nothing like that!” Ichigo squawked, waving his hands in denial. “I just asked Tatsuki to be my connection to Karakura when I can't be there. You know, keeping an eye on the twins and making sure I don't forget any homework assignments. Stuff like that.”

“That's not what you said last night.” Tatsuki gave him a half-mast look before scoffing and shaking her head, “It's not like I don't do that already. You live like five minutes away from me.”

“Yeah, well, I wanted to make it official. Just in case something happens... I trust you to make sure everyone else is safe.”

Giving the pair a calculating look, Kenpachi guessed what they were talking about. “The only thing that other divisions have an opinion about is who the captains are. When it comes to choosing their lieutenants and any other seat, you can tell them to stick it where the sun don't shine if they don't like who you pick.”

“Oh.” Ichigo muttered, slowly nodding his head. It made sense. Thinking about it, that certainly explained some things. Why Yachiru was the Lieutenant and Ikkaku the third. Why Rukia went from being an unseated to Lieutenant (he still had to ask her exactly what happened there), how it seemed like there were some in the upper ranks were, compared to some other divisions' similar ranks, virtually useless.

“If you're not going to eat and run,” Kenpachi started, levering himself up from the table and plucking Yachiru up by the collar, “come by the office and we can talk. It'll give me something to do aside from paperwork.” He gave a look like he smelled something disgusting before turning and walking off.

It seemed that Yachiru had managed to, despite Kenpachi's best efforts, stuff her shihakusho with sweet rolls. “Bye-bye Icchi! Kiki-kun!”

“Kiki?” Tatsuki asked and the others shook their heads.

“Just roll with it Tas. It's a lot better than some of the other one's I've heard.” Ichigo finished his meal and sat back, waiting for the others. “If I remember right, Ishida was 'Pencil'.”

“She's quite fond of calling Ikkaku 'Pachinko'” Yumichika added in wistfully. “Then there's Maki-maki, Byakushi...”

“Yun-Yun.” Ikkaku added, making Yumichika nod in reluctant agreement. “Boobies... Actually, that's a few people, now that I think about it.”

“Monkey, I think I heard a few times, _Bow-wow_.” Yumichika continued with a certain amount of dry humor.

“Ok, yeah, I get it.” Tatsuki raised her hand in a plead to stop, “Kiki's not that bad then.”

“It certainly could be worse.” Ichigo nodded. “I think Orihime ended being one of the ones she calls Boobies.”

Tatsuki blinked, deciding to dismiss it with a shrug. “Well, the shoe fits.” Looking around, she noticed that most everyone was finished eating. “So...”

“Finished?” Ichigo asked, looking from Tatsuki over to Yuzu. “You done too Yuu?”

“Hai, what do you want me to do with the dishes?” She asked, already having her dishes stacked for easy removal.

“Leave 'em.” Ikkaku answered before Ichigo could. “The suckers stuck on kitchen duty will deal with 'em.”

“Oh.” Yuzu blinked, looking down at her plates, thinking that she should at least help, “That's not very nice to say.”

Ikkaku shrugged, putting his tableware in a stack as well. “That's because most of 'em are on punishment detail for screwin' around. The rest of 'em are newbies that haven't earned any respect yet. That's how it goes in this division.”

Biting her lip, Yuzu nodded. She understood that it was their division and it was their way to do things, but she didn't have to like it. “Hey, you ok?” Ichigo asked softly, coming in close and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She nodded, ducking away and standing up. “Ok. Do you mind if we go to Kenpachi's office, or should we get out of here? We've got about an hour, hour and a half, before people start gathering for fireworks.”

“We can go to Kenpachi-san's office. I don't mind.” She was subdued, she didn't really want to be in the eleventh any more, but the captain and his daughter weren't too bad, nor was the bald man. She wasn't too sure with the man with feathers yet though.

“Thanks Yuu,” Ichigo smiled, ducking down to press a kiss to her temple, “I promise, we'll be out of here soon enough.”

A few minutes later, Ichigo led the way into Kenpachi's office, holding the door open for the two girls. They were treated to the rare sight of Kenpachi sitting behind a desk and actually plowing his way through paperwork, though his head was propped up on one hand and his brush was being gripped tight enough for the wood to groan in stress. “Hey, you wanted to talk to me?” Ichigo spoke up, knocking on the door frame.

“Yeah,” He grunted looking up without moving his head, “Ya stole my third seat for babysitting duty without even havin' the curtesy to pop in ta say hi. And now he's gotta clean up after ya. Whatcha got to say about that.” He pointed his brush at Ichigo, who had the grace enough to look somewhat embarrassed.

“Sorry?”

Kenpachi snorted after keeping his stare for a few more moments, going back to his paperwork. “Sorry's not your style. But if you really are, I find myself without a babysitter since my two top seats are now off doing their own thing. Deal with her for a bit before you leave and we'll call it even.” Looking over at Yachiru skeptically, he received a large grin in return, to which he raised an eyebrow.

“Are you going to behave if I ask you to?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yep, I'll be good!” Yachiru promised, giving her biggest, most innocent grin. Ichigo didn't believe her for an instant. Sighing, he nodded and walked over to where she was sitting at a miniature of Kenpachi's desk, right down to a slash down one corner (all thanks to Ikkaku's woodworking skill, he had no doubt). She was working on something that most definitely wasn't paperwork, with the looks of the various coloring utensils scattered around her desk.

“Cool. I get the couch!” Tatsuki cheered, flopping gracelessly on the one piece of modern furniture in the entire room. “Wake me when you're ready to go.” she said, covering her eyes with one arm and refusing to move.

“Uh...I...” Yuzu looked around, biting her lip. She wasn't exactly comfortable in their presence, and Tatsuki had taken up the only place to sit in the entire room, leaving no other places to sit without bothering the large man for another seat, yet she didn't want to leave her brother to wander around by herself.

“Come here Yuu,” Ichigo said, gesturing for his sister to come closer. He could see how uncomfortable she was and wanted to make her feel welcome in some small way. “Your flower's trying to fall out.”

“Ah!” Putting her hand over her kanzashi to keep them in place, she quickly shuffled over to her big brother, standing straight so that he could fix it quickly.

“Your hair's really pretty.” Yachiru chirped, looking up from her drawing and climbing up to perch on Ichigo's shoulder to get a better view. “With the flowers and leaves and stuff.”

“Oh, uh, thank you.” Yuzu stuttered, “your hair's really pretty too.” She complimented back. She had never seen anyone with naturally pink hair before.

Seeing Yachiru's fascination with what he was doing, Ichigo decided to redo Yuzu's braid as well, letting Yachiru see just what he was doing. “Do you want me to do your hair too?” Ichigo asked quietly, gaining an eager nod from the girl as she watched him unbraid Yuzu's hair and finger-comb it for a bit before starting to re-braid it. “Then you'll need to get some hair clips and your brush, ok?” She nodded and jumped off his shoulder, eager to run off and get her things. He had no doubt that she had more, with how he had seen practically everyone dote on the girl. And even if she didn't come back with anything usable, he was sure that he could do something with the two bone clips she wore in an x pattern. “Hey, how 'bout you wait a minute for me to finish here and you can take Yuzu. She can help you pick what to bring me, if that's ok with you?” He asked, turning back to his sister.

“Hai, I can help.” she murmured, wanting to nod, but not wanting to dislodge her brother's fingers from her hair in the meanwhile. At least it would get he out of the presence of the big, intimidating, man for a while. Yachiru seemed... different, from everyone else in the division, which made her at least a little curious about the little girl in the midst of all these men. Wouldn't she like it better in another division that had more girls in it? If she was in a more poetic mood, she would compare Yachiru to a pink rose, surrounded by a whole bunch of sweaty, smelly, intimidating thorns.

“Great. Thank you.” He told her, using one of the kanzashi to hold the end of the braid while he re-wove the ribbon into her hair, securing the stray ends of her hair in place. Quickly securing the maple leaves and the forget-me-not above her be-ribboned braid, he patted her shoulders and gave her a little push in Yachiru's direction. Hopefully, Yachiru would help Yuzu feel at least a little better about staying in the eleventh for the next little while.

“Yay!” Yachiru cheered, grabbing hold of Yuzu's hands and pulling her out the door. “I can't wait to show you my room!” She gave a wide smile, which Yuzu tried to return. The last thing that they heard was Yuzu calling for the small pink-haired bundle of energy to slow down.

“Didn't know that you could do things like that.” Kenpachi stated, looking up from his work.

“What, getting Yuzu new friends?” Ichigo asked, staring out the way that the two girls had gone.

“No,” He stated, pointing his chin in their direction. “Never pegged you to do hair stuff.” To which Ichigo turned to Kenpachi, eying the larger man's intentionally wild mane. He got a shark-like grin when he realized that they were both thinking of the belled spikes that he had sported two years previous. “Yachiru.” He said by way of explanation.

Nodding, Ichigo turned away and gave a shrug, leaning against the wall with crossed arms. “I used to do stuff like that more often when the twins were in primary school. Not so much anymore. I wanted them to look good for tonight though.” Closing his eyes, Ichigo pegged where Yuzu was and gave a sigh, not wanting her to overhear what he was about to say. “You know we... lost mom when we were little, right? Well, I found her last week and I haven't told them yet. I want it to be a surprise.”

“So you're taking yer nerves out on your sister's hair in the meanwhile.” Kenpachi didn't judge, just a hint of amusement in his dark eyes, “Sometime I forget you're human. I take it you're taking them to see her tonight then?”

“Yeah,” Ichigo absently licked his lips, “Dad's been here all day with her on a date, while I've been escorting Yuzu around. Karin, she was dropped off at Toshirou's office this morning, so I have no clue where she is.”

“Ha, so ol' Isshin's back, eh?” Zaraki grinned, “He was good for a spar or two, back when he was a captain.”

“How did...” Ichigo sighed, rubbing his face with one of his hands. “ _Of course he'd know. They were captains together and he wasn't exactly subtle during the war._ ” He muttered, his hand going around to rub the back of his neck. “Yeah.”

“Y'know, when I first figgered it out, you surprised me.” Kenpachi smirked, pointing his brush at the boy, “It took a while, since you're a mite quieter than the others, but get ya riled up, an' ya got that ol' Shiba temper. Got their face too, now that I think 'bout it. Though you must get yer colorin' from your mama.”

“I... yeah, I guess.” He was caught off guard. It wasn't often when a shinigami spoke about the Shiba to him, but none as forthrightly as Kenpachi just did. He didn't quite know what to think about, being so blatantly compared to the siblings that he had met back in the Rukon. It was funny though, that neither of them had ever actually said anything either. Maybe it was just because they hadn't had any time to say anything before, or the subject just never had come up. Or they didn't know. Ichigo mused to himself. It was more than likely that they thought that Isshin had died, or had been told that he had died, back when he had fallen in love with mom. Though the temper, Ichigo was reluctant to agree, was most definitely a strong trait that ran through most of the Shiba scions.

“So, what's the other one's name again?” Kenpachi asked, figuring that he might as well keep and eye out for the siblings, as a sort of favor to Ichigo. After all, wouldn't do for something to happen to Isshin's kids. Heh, the nutjob always did go out of his way to get a smile from any kids he ran across, it was no wonder he finally got a couple of his own.

“Hmm? Oh, Yuzu.” Ichigo replied.

“Nah, not that one. The other one. The one I haven't seen yet.”

“Oh.” Ichigo stated, giving Kenpachi a curious look out of the corner of his eye. “Karin.”

“Yeah.” Kenpachi nodded, committing the names to memory, “She anything like you, or is she more like her sister?”

“Ha!” Tatsuki laughed, showing that she hadn't been taking a nap, like she said she would. “You tell me.” She shrugged without moving the arm from over her eyes, figuring that since she had given up the farce of sleeping, she might as well keep talking. “I heard the last kid that pissed her off got a football cleat to the nuts.” Ichigo winced, but didn't deny it. He didn't recall that particular incident, but that sounded too like Karin to not, not be true. In fact, in one of the filing cabinets in the clinic, there was a file labeled 'free checkups for life', which, while it included many of Ichigo's gifted friends, also included many of Karin's... 'victims'. In the end, it was cheaper to give them free medical care than to let the parents take them to court.

“Sounds like a girl who can stand up for herself!” Kenpachi grinned, not wanting to wait to meet this mysterious third Kurosaki. “You bring her around next time.” She sounded interesting and he started imagining Ichigo's scowl on little Yuzu's face. They were twins, right? Didn't they usually end up looking similar?

Ichigo shook his head, partially in denial, partially in exasperation. “I'm not going to bother. She'll show up here soon enough on her own if she keeps hanging out with Toshirou like she does. You're neighbors, either way.” A fact that made Ichigo wince. While neither of his sisters had any formal training like he had at their age, Karin's involvement with football and hollow hunting under Geta-boshi's supervision had no-doubt drawn out a thirst for combat that would eventually draw her to challenge herself in the eleventh. And that's what worried him. While it was ok for Tatsuki, despite being completely human, he knew her abilities well enough to not worry for her (for the most part). Karin... would get flattened. And then he'd have to kick the eleventh's collective asses once again and that just wouldn't end up well for everyone involved.

Zaraki grunted, hiding his flash of disappointment as the office door flew open with a cry of “Icchi!” Interrogation time was over, it seemed.

Starting as the door slammed open, Ichigo barely managed to catch the flying projectile more commonly known as Yachiru. “Hey, you find something interesting?” He addressed both of the girls, looking up at Yuzu as she came in a bit slower, carrying a small, but intricately carved, jewelery chest. Getting a nod from both girls, he carried Yachiru over to the couch and nudged Tatsuki's leg with his foot. “Budge up, Tas.” Her only response was to stick out her tongue and sink more bonelessly into the couch. “I know you're still awake. Now move over.” He freed a hand and scooped it under her knees, pulling her legs off the couch, which made her scrabble for purchase before she was completely dumped onto the floor. During her scramble, He sat down at one end, pulling Yuzu down to sit in the middle, and situated Yachiru to sit between his knees. If he was sure she would sit still, he would have had her sit on the floor instead, so that he had a better angle, but this was better than nothing. Using his knees, he would be able to pin Yachiru in place for a few minutes, at least.

“So,” Ichigo gave his sister a wry grin, “got the goods?” Yuzu nodded, giggling a little as she opened the box for Ichigo to see. It shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did to see a string of tiny silver bells lying right on top of everything else. The only traditional-looking hair ornament in the box was a small kanzashi that Ichigo would eat his favorite wristband if it wasn't yarrow flowers. If he would venture a guess, he would say that it was a gift from Byakuya, given the high-quality feel of the flower petals. Under those were some more common hair accessories and pins, things that Yachiru would miss if she were to accidentally lose them while she was running around. Picking up what looked like a cat skull (complete with bone-ears), Ichigo got an idea, which was further reinforced spotting several other similar accessories. “Hmm...” he hummed, amused, as he leaned over to whisper in Yuzu's ear. “...ne?” He asked, getting a grin and a giggle from his little sister in response.

“How many do you think she needs?” Yuzu asked, already digging through the box for some plain bobby pins she had thrown in at the last minute.

“One or two to start off with. Now!” Ichigo barked, turning back to Yachiru and grabbing her shoulders until she faced forward, then the sides of her face to face the same direction. “Where's your hair brush?” He asked, holding her still until she got the message to sit still and to stop with the wiggles. Just running his fingers through her hair absently, he realized that he would have to be careful to work all the knots out.

“Here!” Yachiru chirped, looking up far enough to see up Ichigo's nostrils. She smothered a giggle with her hands, making Ichigo have to wiggle the brush out from between the fingers covering her mouth. “You look funny this way!”

“And you don't?” He asked back tilting her head back to a natural angle. Taking the brush, he took the first swipe down the back of her head gently, but instead of resisting the brush, Yachiru went with it, letting it pull her head back to the angle it just had been. The only problem was, Ichigo could see her grin, and could tell that she wasn't ready to sit still quite yet. Carefully, he finished his first pass and tilted Yachiru back up. Starting another pass, the same thing happened once again. It happened a few more times before Ichigo pulled the brush away and tilted Yachiru back to his his chest. “Are you done yet?” While he was indeed getting the knots out, it was in no way a fast process while Yachiru was playing around like she was.

“Nope!” She laughed, earning a small snort from Ichigo as he touched her nose with a fingertip.

“How about a deal then?” He asked, hoping that she'd take the bait. “You sit still without any more silliness and I'll... tell you a story?”

He knew he had hit on the correct solution when her eyes lit up and she sprung up into a sitting position, her hands folded demurely (ha!) in her lap, just like Byakuya had taught her. A few more wiggles and Yachiru looked over her shoulder with a wide smile, “I'm ready Icchi!”

“Hmm... we'll see.” He murmured, taking up the brush once again. This time, she did indeed sit still, letting him section out smaller portions so that he didn't pull quite as much. After a few minutes, Ichigo took a deep breath and started to talk in measured tones that reminded her of when Byakuya would read to her. “ _A long, long time ago, there was a minor lord whose house was at the edge of a forest._ ”

“Oh, jeez, not that one. Isn't that one a little old for her?” Tatsuki asked, finally giving up on feigning sleep to curl up on her end of the couch.

Ichigo shrugged, moving to the next section of hair, “Not really. I was younger than her when I heard it the first time.”

“Yeah, and you had nightmares for weeks.”

“Ah...” He had no response to that, knowing it was true. In fact, he still had nightmares about it... especially now that he was older. “I'm sure that Yachiru will be able to handle it. It's nothing worse than things that she sees every day.”

Giving a defiant shrug, Tatsuki decided that it was his funeral if he made the kid cry, “Then by all means, continue.” She gave a dismissive wave, curling up further on the couch. While she had heard the story second hand from Ichigo, it had given her more than one sympathetic nightmare as well. She wasn't sure if he had ever told the twins, but she wouldn't be surprised if he had sheltered them from the unedited story.

“ _And in this forest,_ ” Ichigo gave Tatsuki a glare to make sure that she didn't interrupt again, getting a scoff in return, “ _were many, many types of yokai. From ghost-like Ayakashi to animalistic Mononoke. For the most part, the humans knew to stay out of the forest, and the yokai, in turn, left the humans alone. Though, every once in a while, a youkai would break the truce._ Not to say, though, that the humans were innocent in turn, far from it, in fact.” Ichigo interrupted himself, finishing brushing Yachiru's hair and finding himself in a small quandary. “Hey, Yuzu, can you ask Kenpachi if he still has some hair wax. I won't be able to do this on faith and hairpins alone.” Well... he could. But it wouldn't stay in shape for very long; especially with how much Yachiru had a tendency to bounce around.

Looking between her older brother and the scary-looking man sitting behind a desk, Yuzu gulped and slid off the couch, carefully placing the jewelery box within Ichigo's reach. “O-okay.”

“Don't worry, his bark's a lot worse than his bite.” Ichigo laughed, earning a grin from the man that promised that no, that was not (exactly) true.

Still, he behaved and sat perfectly still as Yuzu approached and stuttered out her request. “Sure, I got some still around. Jus' gimme a tic.” he said, making sure not to make any sudden moves as he checked his desk drawers. Sure enough, he didn't have any left in the jar in his desk and showed it to her before standing up. “Don' worry, I've got more in my room. This way.” He tilted his head to a door that, from her expression, she hadn't noticed before it was pointed out to her. Absently, he patted her hair like he usually did Yachiru as he passed, getting a startled squeak that reminded him of a mouse.

It only took a moment, but curiosity overtook her and she shuffled to the doorway. The room looked like a normal bedroom, much to her surprise, with an extra large futon in the middle of the floor with the blanket tossed away. There were two pillows: a large one that she assumed Kenpachi-san used, and a smaller pink one. That explained why Yachiru's room didn't actually look slept in. There was a small futon in the corner, but she could swear there was an inch of dust on the thing, while her toys and various art supplies were scattered practically everywhere on the floor. There were toy chests that looked handmade in the same style as her jewelery box and a few of the toys, but she would bet money that they were practically empty. Even in Kenpachi-san's room, there was a scattered essence of having been lived in by a little girl. A stuffed animal was down at the foot of the futon, a small tabi sock was peeking out from under a small vanity. A pink basket holding pink bath supplies sat next to a larger one holding Kenpachi-san's own supplies. “Here ya go.” Kenpachi handed her a small jar, causing her to squeak and nearly drop said jar.

“T-thank you.” she told his bare feet, turning to leave.

“Mind if I ask you a question?” Kenpachi asked, studying the girl, who shook her head furiously. Deciding not to ask his original question, he bent down closer to her level. “What's your brother got planned for Yachiru's hair?” There, that wasn't so bad. He could do not-scary when he wanted to.

“Oh! Ah, he's going to do cat ears!” Yuzu replied, not able to stop herself from miming said ears with her fingers.

Giving the girl a small grin that he only reserved for Yachiru, Kenpachi patted her head before standing back up. “I'm sure it'll be cute. Yachiru'll be happy.” He gently pushed her toward the couch, closing the door on the bedroom behind them.

Back on the couch, Ichigo continued his story, parting the crown of her head down the middle and backcombing two sections to make a pair of pink puffballs. “ _Every once in a while, weak yokai would think it brave of themselves to test themselves, thinking it would be easy to kill the lord and take over the human's lands for their own. They did this often enough, that the lord thought it would be a good idea to hire a priest to live in the manor. The priest agreed easily enough, believing it to be quite the cushy job. And for the most part, he was right._ Ah, thanks Yuu.” Ichigo took the hair wax and scooped it onto his fingers, working it into sections of hair in front of the puffballs so that they were stiff enough to stand up on their own. Curling the sections of hair around the puffballs, he took the two pins that Yuzu handed him and pinned them down. Working carefully, he worked the hair into cat-ear shaped points, re-pinning the sections until he got them about where he wanted them. “ _For years, the priest lived and worked in the lord's manor, slaying any yokai that dared come out of the forest.”_

“Like shinigami and hollows.” Yachiru asked, turning slightly.

“Yes,” Ichigo replied, patiently turning her back forward, “they're very similar. But sometimes yokai are very hard to tell, since they don't have anything like a hollow's mask. Sometimes the only way to tell a yokai from a normal woodland creature or human is something as small as a strange marking, or an extra body part. Now hush.” Yachiru nodded, making Ichigo happy to see that the ears didn't move. Using a few more pins, he secured the base of the ears a little better, _just in case,_ before taking a string of tiny bells and attaching them to a fish-skeleton shaped clip. He used the clip to sweep some of Yachiru's bangs out of the way, creating a sort of impromptu kanzashi. “ _One day, a beautiful princess walked out of the forest all alone, dressed in an expensive kimono and a veiled hat and walked right up to the lord's house. 'Please help me' she called 'my carriage was attacked by bandits and I am the only one that managed to get away.' The lord, taken in by her sad story and invited her to stay the night. The priest, on the other hand, was suspicious. There were no roads in the forest for many miles around_ _and the princess refused to take off her veil, even in the presence of the house's master._ _Later that night, the priest confronted the princess outside her rooms. 'Stop whatever you're doing here, yokai, and leave this house at once!'”_ Ichigo deepened his voice, trying to make it sound important, but only got giggles from girls instead.

“ _Pretty priessst, sssmart priessst' she replied, drawing her veil to one side, 'You sssaw through my disssguissse, did you?'”_ This time, Ichigo raised his voice, drawing out the esses like a snake and hissing directly into Yachiru's ear, making her flinch to that side with a giggle. “ _The priest immediately drew back, ready to defend himself if she should choose to attack._

“ _'_ _What do you wish from_ _my lord_ _?' he asked, gazing upon her face. It was the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, only marred by the three scales upon her cheek.”_ Turning Yachiru around, Ichigo poked her cheek three times, forming a triangle beneath one of her eyes.

“' _I want_ ,''' Ichigo hissed, his breath now tickling Yachiru's other ear, “ _'The princessesss ssskin. I want to be beautiful. I want to be rich. I want loverssss.' she hissed into the priests ear. For the yokai had seen into the lord's manor from afar and had seen how the lord's daughter had many suitors and riches,_ _yet never seemed happy. Why dared the human not be happy when she was given everything she ever wanted? If the human couldn't be happy, then she would gladly take her place. For certainly the riches and endless suitors would make her happy._

“ _'I am but a humble priest,' the man said, 'but surely there is something I can do to soothe your restless spirit?' he had a plan, that by sacrificing himself, he could keep the yokai away from the princess. For you see, the princess and the priest were secret lovers. While she had more suitors than she knew what to do with, they were not her true love, so she was miserable, and so was the priest. That night, he took the yokai into his bed, planning on destroying the beast while it was asleep. But the yokai had other plans._

“ _'Beautiful priessst, powerful priessst, you are not ssstrong enough to defeat me.' she hissed, looking into her new lover's eyes,_ _a_ _nd with that, she sunk her fangs into his neck, planting the seed of her power.”_ Ichigo was unaware that as he said that, he touched the juncture of his neck and shoulder, where the yokai was said to have bitten the priest. _“Soon after, the yokai disappeared, promising that she would be back in one week to take the princess' place. Instead of wallowing in defeat, the priest came up with a plan to kill the yokai, believing the bite in his neck to only be a dream, since, by the next morning, the mark was gone. Unknown to the priest, the yokai's seed of power had already taken root in his mind, drawing upon his deepest desires to wed the princess as he went to report to the lord the next morning that the yokai was gone. 'O Great Lord!' the priest said, the seeds power making him arrogant in his manners, 'I have_ _chased away a great evil that wished for the fair princess' skin! But alas, the creature will return in one week to try again and I may not be able to stop it again without proper payment.'_

_'You have as much gold as you could desire,' the old lord said, 'but for what else could you demand from me to stop this great evil.'”_ This time, Ichigo's voice had gone creaky, in a fair imitation of Yamamoto's _._

“ _The young priest smiled behind his fan, for he knew that he could demand the one thing he wanted to be rid of the yokai. 'Oh, nothing so great. I wish_ _naught_ _but your daughter's hand. After all, would she not be safest with one that would be able to protect her at all times?' The old lord was furious. Here, a low-born third son of a clanless samurai, who had only taken the priesthood as the only way to save his own honor to spite his father's, dared to take his daughter and only heir? But alas, there was_ _nothing_ _to be done, for the old lord knew the priest's worth_ _just_ _as well as the priest did. And thus, the_ _princess and the priest were promised to wed._

“ _When the yokai returned the next week, the priest stepped out to confront her, his princess bride's favorite trinket stashed carefully next to his heart with her blessing. The priest and the yokai fought for three days and three nights. By the third sunset the priest was on his last defense, as well as the yokai having revealed its true form: a great serpent. The priest, knowing what the serpent had said was true, instead sealed her inside his body. 'You wish for the princess' skin' he said as he was sealing her, 'and you will never have it while you are sealed away!'_

“ _The last thing he heard of the serpent was it's laugh as it bit him in the neck, once again,_ _saying:_ _'no_ _mortal_ _man is ssstrong enough to kill me. Not you, nor your hundredth dessscendant.'_ _The young priest did not worry, for the serpent was gone, never to be heard from again and he had his princess._

“ _Returning to the lord's manor, he presented the princess' token to the lord. 'my lord,' he said, 'I have returned victorious. The serpent that wished for your daughter's skin is sealed within this token and shall never bother you again.' The lord was pleased and immediately ordered the token to be_ _broken into five portions_ _and its_ _pieces_ _scattered to the four_ _corners of the lord's estate_ _, to make sure that the yokai never freed itself from its prison._ _The fifth, was hidden under the manor house, unknown where except for the lord himself._ _For he did not know that the priest had lied to him._

“ _Many, many years later, the old lord died and the priest was now old and the manor's lord in his own right. He had a beautiful wife at his side, a strong son to be lord after him_ _and a beautiful daughter to dote on_ _. One night, as the priest was laying down his head to sleep, he saw a vision of the serpent in human form, kneeling over him 'Old fool, ugly fool, did you think you were rid of me?_ _When you die, I will take over your body and take what I want.' The priest, not believing that the serpent had such power over him, slept peacefully that night. The next morning, the first scale appeared, right where the old scar of her bite had been for many, many years._

_'Old serpent,' the old priest said, looking into his polished mirror, 'you may take this body, but you will never take my princess' skin!' And with that, he prepared himself, for new scales appeared every day, spreading across his skin like an affliction, sapping his already aged strength. On his death bed, his brain addled and his power weak, he called his strong son to his side. 'Take this curse from me and bring it into yourself. You are strong. Use that strength to protect the princess, for if ever the serpent were to get free, her skin would be at risk!' The old man, in his delirium, only saw his wife as she once was: the unobtainable beauty. His son, fearing for his younger sister, the new princess, immediately agreed. Not to long after, the priest, now old and scaled_ _over the majority of his body, died.”_ Ichigo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “And the rest, is for next time.”

“No! Icchi, that's not fair!” Yachiru whined, really getting into the story.

“That wasn't that scary.” Yuzu added, absently playing with some of the clips in Yachiru's box. Humming, Ichigo didn't say anything, but turned and gave Tatsuki a look. The older girl's face was white, pinched in a type of pain that wasn't physical before seeming to shake it off. Shaking her head, she looked away, restraining herself from saying anything about the story. While it wasn't scary in the traditional sense... no, she wouldn't say anything. It was Ichigo's story to tell, after all.

“Hey, it's almost time to head out.” Ichigo stated lightly, tweaking Yachiru's 'ears' one last time before setting her on the floor. “Are you coming to the fireworks tonight?” Yachiru thought for a moment, cocking her head to one side before turning to her father.

“If you want.” Kenpachi acquiesced, sometime during Ichigo's story having stopped working on his reports for the day. He was giving Ichigo a strange look, similar to the look he would give one of Ikkaku's puzzle boxes, before turning to his daughter. “Go get Yumi and Ikkaku and we'll head out.” While the kid's story itself was nothing strange, there were certain elements that struck him odd. He couldn't quite put his finger on what, exactly, had grabbed his attention, but it was something that had the sense that it was something vital. Deciding not to worry about it, Kenpachi absently cleaned off his brush and set it aside for the day.

“Just a minute.” Ichigo called to Yachiru before she was out the door. Standing up and stretching, he summoned her over to her small desk and picked up a brush and her watercolor palette. Humming in thought, he looked between the palette and the girl, then, deciding what he would do, dipped the small brush into the pink paint. “Hold still.” He murmured, using the cold paint to stain the end of her nose dark pink, draw a cleft and two semicircles on her upper lip, dotting it with freckles. With the black, he outlined the pink stain on her nose and drew long, elegant cat whiskers on both of her cheeks. “There, now you can go.” He said with a light chuckle of humor. “Just don't touch it until it dries, or it'll smear.”

“Ok!” Yachiru gave a cute little meow, complete with kicking one leg up and putting her closed fists by her chin, before running off to show her subordinates.

Looking up at Kenpachi through his fringe, the larger captain did nothing but shrug. It wasn't like Yachiru hadn't done stranger things to herself before. There was a reason that all the art supplies that she was allowed to use was able to be easily cleaned up with soap and water. “You don't mind?”

“Nope. It'll wash off, and the hair will too, though it might take a bit longer than usual.” Was all Kenpachi said, walking out of the office to attempt to track his no-doubt distracted lieutenant.

“Good.” Ichigo let out a relieved sigh as Kenpachi left. He was afraid that he had pushed things a little too far in his effort to distract Yachiru. “You two ready to go?”

“Been ready!” Tatsuki flipped off the couch, giving her own stretch.

“A-ano...” Yuzu lifted up the box in silent question.

“You can leave it right there. I'm sure that Yachiru won't mind.” The girl nodded, carefully placing the box on the couch before grabbing Ichigo's hand. Finally, it was time to leave this oppressive division and go out to see some fireworks!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to remind you, this is _un-edited_ and any and all feedback is more than welcome!


	9. Fireworks

“Hey, you doing ok there Yuu?” Ichigo asked, looking over at his panting sister. Looking around, he judged that they were about halfway up the hill. While the view of the majority of Seireitei was spectacular during sunset, taking the path was a long and steep one that was not meant to be hiked casually. The fact that most of the shinigami that were even allowed on the path usually used it as a glorified staircase for flash-step vaguely crossed his mind.

“Yeah...” she huffed, dragging one foot in front of the other in a determined, if gradually slowing, pace, “I'm fine... nii-san.”

“If you're sure...” Ichigo paused, waiting for his sister to catch up. He had to give her points. If nothing else, she had the same stubbornness issues that seemed to plague both sides of the family. Though, on the other hand, at this rate, they may not make it up the hill in time for the fireworks, let alone in one piece on Yuzu's part. Walking on the outside of the path, he had watched many of his friends and companions flash by, hands full of blankets and snacks to claim their own watching spot. He wasn't quite sure, but he could swear that Karin had even managed a slow flash-step, aided by Toshirou to get up the hill before them.

Humming, Ichigo made an executive decision and scooped up Yuzu, flashing up the rest of the way, despite her loud protests of “Put me down onii-san!” He immediately did as she asked... at the top of the hill.

“There, now go pick a good spot.” he stated, overreacting slightly when Yuzu backhanded his arm before stomping off in a huff. Looking around, he saw that Tatsuki had already made it up and was being introduced to the SWA by the cat-faced Yachiru and an enthusiastic Orihime. While the martial artist had her own breed of pride, she had allowed Chad to carry her up the hill with his own style of energy-powered air walking. They had met him earlier on their walk back to the thirteenth. It turned out that Rukia had left already, but they picked up Chad, so it wasn't that much of a loss. Speaking of, Ichigo didn't see Rukia around at all. She should have been here already.

Though... Ichigo huffed out a sigh and made his way over to Toshirou and Karin, swooping in and stealing the soccer ball from between them, drawing Karin in to chase him around instead. Knowing from long experience that to get this sister's attention, he shouldn't bother trying to call her over or capture her, but make her come to him. Dribbling the ball around, Ichigo signaled Toshirou to stay back while he kept eye contact with Karin, waiting for her to- There!

Karin lunged for the ball, coming within Ichigo's grabbing range and immediately found herself caught around the middle. “Let me go Ichi-nii!” She yelled, trying to kick his shins with her heel, making him dance around a bit. Absently kicking the ball back to Toshirou, Ichigo put Karin back on her feet, pinning her arms to her side with an arm and pulling her back to his chest.

“Would you just _stand still_ for a minute?” Ichigo growled, waiting his sister out. They both knew he could out-stubborn her any day. After a minute or two, Karin stopped squirming and just kind of slumped in his arms. “There we go.” He murmured, slowly letting her go. When he was sure she wouldn't run, he started plucking at her ponytail, trying to straighten it out and de-tangle her crane ornaments. He could tell that she had been 'fixing' her ponytail like she usually did in the middle of the day, so now it was lopsided and coming undone. Sighing, Ichigo pulled the kanzashi and put it between his lips, working the ponytail until it was as smooth as it was going to get.

“Ichigo!” He recognized that voice. Turning, Ichigo went to greet Rukia, but remembered that his mouth was currently occupied. Instead, he just settled for a nod before turning back to Karin's hair. What she was wearing and who she was with explained why she wasn't at the thirteenth when they had gone to pick her up. Rukia had gone home with Byakuya, it seemed, to change into a kimono with small white bunnies all over it. In her hair was the kanzashi that Yuzu had given her that morning, along with a few more ostentatious Kuchki-owned kanzashi that he had seen her wear before. Behind her, Byakuya had changed as well into a dark blue kimono.

Managing to fix Karin's hair the best he could, he gave the crane kanzashi a flick with his hand to straighten out any chinks in the chain before sliding it back into place. “There. Hey Rukia, Byakuya,” He gave the siblings each a nod before patting Karin's shoulders. “Now can you _please_ try to stay nice looking until at least the end of the fireworks?” He asked, getting a pout and a reluctant nod in return. “Good. Now go help Yuzu set up.”

“...Hai.” Karin muttered, waving Toshirou to follow with the soccer ball. The two taicho managed to nod a greeting before Karin grabbed his arm and started pulling him away.

“It's not like I ask her to look nice that often.” Ichigo shrugged, looking over to Byakuya in commiseration, getting a raised eyebrow instead. “Ah, that was Karin. Yuzu's... somewhere over there.” Ichigo waved vaguely toward where the execution cross used to stand. “I thought you and Renji weren't coming tonight?”

“Aburai-fukutaicho is busy finishing his assignments.” Byakuya corrected, “He is making up time that he took earlier this week to socialize with some of his peers.” Read: Rangiku got bored and dragged Renji and the rest of the crew out drinking earlier in the week, making him come in either late with a hangover the next day, or not at all.

“Ah.” Ichigo nodded, understanding Byakuya's irk. He would have thought that the taicho of the sixth would have been used to his lieutenant getting dragged into scenarios like that. Turning to Rukia, Ichigo gave the shorter girl a smile. “Hey, I don't know what all will happen after the fireworks, but I know that Yuzu at least hasn't gone to the actual festival yet. Do you want to tag along if we go?”

“Sure, that sounds like fun, ah...?” Rukia turned to Byakuya, who, after a moment, gave a nod before walking away. “I'll meet up with you then.” Rukia grinned, looking around at who all had arrived. “Uh... _have the girl's_...?” Rukia leaned in to whisper.

“No, not yet.” Ichigo shook his head, turning to look at where Yuzu had set up camp and Karin had... disappeared off with Toshirou and the football again. “Dad should be here any minute though.”

“ _Hey_.” Rukia said in a hushed voice, giving Ichigo a smile and squeezing one of his hands. “ _You don't have to be nervous_.”

Putting his hand on Rukia's head, he gave the smaller girl a reassuring smile. “I'm not. I-”

“ICHI-GOOOO!” Ichigo flinched, pushing Rukia down into a bow and roundhouse kicking over where her head had been, connecting solidly with a body clad in black and white, flinging it off into the open air beyond the cliff.

“DAMNIT OLD MAN!” He yelled before blinking and releasing Rukia's head. “Uh... sorry about that.” He murmured, rubbing the back of his own head in combined embarrassment of Isshin, and Isshin being in public. He could _feel_ the eyes staring at him after an interaction like that.

* * *

Over by the other side of the plateau's clearing, Kyouraku found his spot on the soutaicho's blanket, slumping down to lounge next to Ukitake. “Ah. Looks like the pre-show entertainment's arrived.” He smirked, holding up his sake jar. Unohana smiled in return, holding up her cup to be filled.

“Yes, I've heard about Isshin-kun, but I wasn't aware that he had returned.” She commented, watching where the ex-taicho had gone over the cliff, not worried in the least for the man's survivability.

“Yes, well, turns out Ichigo-san's mother became a student not two years ago. Apparently when she was reincarnated, she was able to retain her memories.” Ukitake gave his input, nodding his thanks when Shunsui topped his glass as well. “She's finally getting to see her daughters tonight. And, from what I understand, Ichigo-san set up this whole thing.”

“That was wonderful of him. I was wondering why I was hearing rumors today that Kurosaki-san and a girl were volunteering in the hospital today.”

“That would have been Yuzu-chan, I believe.” Shunsui tilted his hat, watching the soutaicho out of the corner of his eye. The old man's lips were thinned in thought and he was watching Ichigo the most intensely, especially after the flare of reiatsu and the kick that had sent Isshin-kun off the cliff. What he would give to hear what the old man was thinking sometimes. “She's as sweet as her sister and older brother are tough. I'll be keeping an eye on all of them, yeah.” Yamamoto grunted, his eyes searching for one, then the other half-shinigami girl-child in their midst.

* * *

Sighing, Ichigo ruffled his hair and looked around. In a moment, he froze, intentionally not looking at the end of the footpath. “Hey,” Rukia drew his attention, having understood what Isshin's arrival had meant the same time that Ichigo did, “I'm going to go find someplace to sit. I'll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, ok.” Ichigo nodded, returning one last squeeze of their hands before Rukia walked off to say hi to the combined SWA and human cluster. Taking one last deep breath to steady his racing heart, Ichigo closed his eyes and turned to the path.

“Good evening Ichigo.” Masaki greeted, clasping her purse strings in both hands and giving her son a wide smile.

“Mom.” Ichigo greeted back, not able to stop the small smile from brightening his face as he held out his hand. “C'mon. Yuzu's this way. And Karin's... somewhere up here.”

Masaki gave a bittersweet smile, absently wiping under her eye with her free hand as Ichigo led her over to Yuzu's blanket. “Nii-chan, can you help me set out the bento boxes?” Yuzu asked, not really looking up beyond an initial glance as Ichigo stepped forward. “I'm sure that we'll have enough if we just go buffet-style instead of... the...” Yuzu looked up once again as Masaki knelt in front of her daughter. It was a face that she could only remember belonging to a poster that had hung on the wall nearly every day of her life. A face that belonged to a headstone that she and her family visited every summer. Tears welled up in both of their eyes, Yuzu refusing to blink, in case this was all an illusion.

“Hello my little Yuzu.” Masaki whispered, giving a watery smile. “Did you make all this?” She asked, gesturing to the spread.

Hiccuping, Yuzu flung herself at her mother with a watery cry of 'Mom!' Looking around, all of a sudden Ichigo felt like the third wheel. Deciding to give the two some space as Yuzu cried into Masaki's fruit-themed yukata (She had actually worn it?!? It was supposed to be a joke!) and Masaki cried into her daughter's tawny hair. Walking away, Ichigo absently tracked Karin and Toshirou's current location (they were playing dangerously close to the edge, in his opinion).

“Hey, Karin!” Ichigo whistled, drawing the dark-haired twin's attention as she absently stopped the football's momentum with a chest trap. “Go over and help Yuzu, will ya?” He said, hitching a thumb over in that direction.

“Fine.” She grumbled, kicking the ball up to catch with her hands, “C'mon Toshirou, lets see what's _so important_ that I need to help Yuzu with.”

“Not quite yet.” Ichigo said, snagging the back of Toshirou's collar with a finger. “I want to ask your boyfriend a quick question first. You go ahead.” He said, tilting his head back towards Yuzu's blanket.

“I'm not/ He's not!” They both protested, earning a sigh and a half-laugh from Ichigo.

“Just, just go already.” He waved her off, holding Toshirou back. By this time, the young captain was giving him the stink eye, crossing his arms. “What?” Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow in defense.

“It's Hitsugaya-taicho to you, Kurosaki.” He said in his usual response.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Ichigo dismissed, finally releasing Toshirou's collar when Karin finally started moving away from them. “ _Do you know what's going on there?_ ” Ichigo asked in a low tone as they both watched Karin walk away, then slowly speed up as she caught sight of her sister, finally breaking into a run as she realized just _who_ she was hugging.

“No. Should I?” Toshirou asked in an equally low tone, earning a shrug in return.

Opening his mouth to reply, Ichigo then closed it and pushed Toshirou away with one hand, spinning and landing a kick on Isshin's face. “Dammit Old Man, stop trying to sneak up on me, it doesn't work!” Ichigo growled, not realizing that Toshirou had frozen where he had landed, watching the man that was now kneeling and cradling his nose with a smirk.

“Ah-ha!” he stood up, pointing dramatically, “My two sons, plotting something nefarious, are we?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Ichigo dove, fist first, trying to knock his father out, “The only nefarious-looking thing here is you! We're in public, if you haven't noticed, so _behave yourself!_ ” Ichigo yelled, managing to grind Isshin's face into the dirt with another kick.

“Mou!” Isshin pouted, crouching behind Toshirou and holding onto the boy's shoulders, “he's being mean to me again! Make him stop!” He rubbed his cheek against Toshirou's head, stopping a moment later when he wasn't getting anything close to the normal response he usually got from the silver-headed boy. “Shiro-kun, save me!” He whined, carefully watching the boy. No reaction, save that the boy was possibly turning even paler than usual. “Toshirou?”

“Shiba-taicho...” If he wasn't so close, Isshin wouldn't have heard the boy's words. It was as if he was a dream. It was his captain, but... not. It just spoke of wrongness. “You left!” Toshirou finally regained used of his body, boldly pushing the elder Kurosaki-formerly-Shiba away. “You abandoned us!” _You abandoned me_ Toshirou thought, hugging himself and refusing to allow him to come any closer.

A few steps away, Ichigo was caught off guard, looking between his father and one of the captains that he believed himself to be close to. Isshin's eyes were the ones he'd get when Ichigo brought up anything having to do with the shinigami, whether he tried to cover it up with a smile for the girls or not. His eyes spoke of regret and remorse. Things that he didn't want to talk about, but needed to talk about to someone, anyone, who would listen. Toshirou, on the other hand, his eyes alternated between fire and pain and cold indifference. He had been abandoned, left on his own too early when he was much to young to take the responsibilities that he had. This was something that the two of them needed to work out before something happened that they would both regret. Sighing, Ichigo closed his eyes and made his decision. Since it was all within the realm of being Isshin's fault, and knowing how his father ticked in certain situations, Ichigo stepped forward and created his distraction.

“Jeez, old man, slacking off now?” Ichigo asked with the broadest sarcastic tone he could muster, kicking Isshin's feet out from under him and pinning an arm behind his back as he ate dirt for the second time in as many minutes. All three of them knew that he could easily break the hold, but Isshin did nothing more than lay there, looking up at Toshirou. “Why didn't you tell me you were Toshirou's captain?” He asked, looking up at Toshirou and giving a soft smile hidden in a smirk. “Hey, Toshiro, you, me, against the old man? Show him how much of an idiot he is?”

“It's Hitsugaya-taicho,” The boy said faintly as Ichigo watched as he slowly focused more on the here and now, looking at Ichigo as if he had never seen him before, before slowly looking down at the top of Isshin's head.

Frowning to himself, Ichigo decided that it was time for plan 'B'... ignoring that he had been wanting to do this for the past two years. Reaching over, Ichigo deftly untied the tattered captain's cloak from his father's shoulder and threw it at Toshirou's face, tackling the boy at the same time. Picking him up, Ichigo danced away a few steps, just enough for Isshin to see what was happening and Toshirou to regain his senses. “You have to fight us if you want it back.” Ichigo stated, putting Toshirou down and squeezing the younger-looking captain's shoulder. Toshirou looked down, startled and almost confused, wondering why he was suddenly holding a captain's cloak when his own was...

“If you don't run, I'm gonna get ya! Roar!” Isshin lunged for the both of them in a wide-armed move that he often used to capture one, if not both of the twins in a hug. Both boys sprung away in opposite directions while Ichigo had a small smile on his face. His father had keyed on to his plan faster than he had hoped. Immediately, Isshin decided to go after Toshirou, another fake-yell on his lips, catching the boy wide-eyed and off-guard as he jumped back once again, clutching the white bundle like a lifeline.

“Toshirou!” Ichigo yelled, beaning his father in the head with the abandoned soccer ball, “Pass!” He held his hand up for the cloak, lunging when it did as all loose bundles of thrown cloth do, and just barely caught it. Isshin, rubbing the back of his head (what was with Ichigo and aiming for his head without pulling his punches anymore?!?), turned and started lunging for his sun in exaggerated movements. It had been a long time since he had seen Ichigo just blatantly start a game like this. While it had usually been Ichigo and the girls against him, this was a wonderful, if strange change of events.

Toshirou, for his part, watched the ball fly in a beautiful arc, moving to catch it without the worry of his captain (ex-captain!) trying to tackle him. He didn't understand why Ichigo was doing something like this, but it just... made sense, in a way, to be doing this. Watching Ichigo dance around with Shiba-taicho's, Kurosaki-san's, cloak made him think about the past. Just how many times had he gone to Kurosaki-san's room during the war, and just how close he had been to Shiba-taicho this whole time. As far as he knew, they had been just mere walls apart the entire time. Why hadn't he said anything? Why didn't he reveal himself? Was it just too much for the old captain to do, to show himself? Biting off a frustrated sob, Toshirou took aim, kicking the ball so it hit at the precise moment that Shiba-taicho, Kurosaki-san, went in for a lunge, knocking him just enough off balance for Ichigo, Kurosaki-san, to dodge out of the way. Growling in frustration, Toshirou held his hand up and was immediately rewarded with the cloak.

Passing the cloak over, Ichigo saw Toshirou's eyes and knew that he had finally made a decision. He watched as the boy unsheathe his sword and point it at his father with resolve. “Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!” Toshirou was resolved. Whether to defeat his father or to do something else, Ichigo didn't know. What he did know though, was that this was no longer his game to be played. Stepping back, Ichigo made sure to stand between the duo and the girls, just in case things got out of hand.

Nodding to himself, Isshin held his resolve to let Toshirou do whatever he needed to do. He could see, even with just the release, that he had grown strong in the time that he had been gone. While Isshin mourned the time lost with what he had come to think of his first son, he wouldn't put away his family for the world. Then again, with becoming the captain that he was, he had obviously finally gained the bankai that he had been working so hard at. Readying himself, Isshin refused to pull his own Engetsu, knowing that this was not a fight that he would want to participate in. He would allow himself to be beaten if that was what it would take to gain Toshirou's forgiveness. In the next moment, he jumped away barely dodging the gaping maw of one of the ice dragons Toshirou sent his way with a vengeance. He would not fight back, but he would not give up either. And the dragons were fast, faster than what he remembered them being nearly two decades before. “Good.” Isshin said to himself, keeping an eye out, dodging when needed, until... the attacks stopped.

“Toshirou?” Isshin asked, not able to read the boy's eyes clearly, for they had turned murky with a mix of emotions. The boy was breathing hard, Isshin's cloak dropped at his feet, and he knew it was time. Flash stepping forward, Isshin caught Toshirou up in a hug, pressing the unresisting boy's forehead to his shoulder. “For what it's worth, I'm sorry.” He murmured, feeling the boy tense, even if his sword tip dug into the dirt. “I never meant to leave you behind. I never meant to leave Rangiku behind either.” he said, holding on until the young captain's shoulders finally sagged, Toshirou pressing his eyes into his old captain's shihakusho, despite not wetting the fabric.

“Hey,” Isshin tried to smile, pulling away enough to see Toshirou's eyes and half-kneeling to be more the captain's height, “from what I heard, you've done a wonderful job. Better than what I ever did, at least.”

“Matsumoto still dodges all her paperwork Tai-uh...” Toshirou mumbled, wiping at his eyes surreptitiously, not knowing what to call the man in front of him.

Isshin grinned, happy in knowing that some things just never changed, but more-so that Toshirou had stumbled over his name. “Taicho's fine, though that's not quite right anymore, is it? Or you can just call me Isshin. Or Daddy, if it makes you feel any better.” Ah, and there was that ole Hitsugaya ice-stare. “Speaking of,” Isshin stood, keeping his arm looped around the shorter captain's shoulders, “where is my lovely ex-lieutenant anyway? I need to introduce you both to my _beautiful_ wife and girls. _Though it looks like you know one of them quite well, eh, Shiro?”_ Isshin jostled the boy while speaking in a sotto voice.

“Not... really.” Toshirou demurred, looking away in embarrassment. _“And it's...”_ Toshirou bit off the rest of his sentence. What right did he have to make his (former) taicho address him with a captain's rank? Then again... “It's Hitsugaya-taicho, Shiba-Taicho.” He grumbled, crossing his arms after carefully re-sheathing his sword.

Looking at the shorter captain for a moment, he squashed the smile and pride bubbling up in his chest before giving him a serious nod. “Right you are, Hitsugaya-taicho, my apologies. Now, do I spy with my little eye a paperwork-dodging lieutenant?” He teased, pulling Toshirou towards the SWA, refusing to let the younger escape. “Rangiku-chan!” Isshin waved before looking at the rest of the group, “And Inoue-chan and Sado-kun, how are you doing? You haven't come by the clinic lately.”

“Hello Kurosaki-sensei,” Orihime smiled, waving back with the hand that wasn't holding Tatsuki's. “I didn't know you were here.” She said with a strange inflection. Isshin had to shake his head; the girl was a horrible liar.

Spotting the held hands, Isshin waggled his eyebrow at Tatsuki, “Oh-ho, what's this I see?”

Rolling her eyes, Tatsuki squeezed Orihime's hand and drew it closer. “Exactly what you think you're seeing. If you're making introductions, I'll come over later Oji-san.” Tatsuki stated, relaxing into Chad's side and pulling Orihime closer. (The large boy didn't seem to mind being used as a back rest, though it seemed like there really wasn't much intimate connection beyond that between the two of them.)

“T... tai- _cho_?” Rangiku was, understandably, confused. “You look... different.” _Older_ , she wanted to say. Her old captain was Ichigo's father? Well, it explained some things, that's for sure. It had even been outright stated last week that his father was a shinigami. But still, hadn't they gone to Ichigo's house before? She thought that she would have recognized her captain if she had seen him. Though... she had heard rumors that he had arrived in the final battle to help with Aizen. This was the first time that she had seen him up close in... she didn't think that he would have aged that much in such a small amount of time.

“Ah, yes,” Isshin posed, stroking his chin, “It's the beard. Ladies totally dig the scruff.”

“Uh...” _No_ , she wanted to say, _they didn't._ “What are you doing here?”

“Why to get the rest of my family together and bring them to meet my wife!” Isshin grinned, looping his free arm around Rangiku and pulling her close. She just happened to look over at her current captain, who looked about fit to burst a blood vessel. “Come along now! Ichigo, you too!... Ichigo?” looking around (and swinging both of his ex-subordinates in the process), Isshin had found that the boy had disappeared. “Hmm... well, it looks like Ichigo's gone and run off again. You know, Rangiku, I thought that running a division would prepare me for raising kids. Ha! They couldn't be more different.” he laughed, herding both of them off to where Masaki and the twins were still hugging it out. “ _Having kids is more like herding cats than anything else_.”

Rangiku had, in fact, spotted Isshin's stray son, but wasn't able to say anything as she was pulled along. The boy gave her a wry smile and a small wave before walking in the complete opposite direction that they were heading, his shoulders hunched and his thumbs hooded in the waist ties of his hakama. Turning back to Isshin, she was finally released as the man, she would swear on all the booze she had hidden in Toshirou's desk, _skipped_ over to (since she could recognize Karin anywhere by now) who she assumed was his wife and daughters, giving them the biggest hug that he could, much to their various levels of complaint.

“Come on, sit, sit down!” Isshin grinned, keeping hold of the woman that strangely reminded her of herself. Now that she thought about it, Isshin-taicho must really have had a thing for redheads, since she distinctly remembered going on a date or two with the man herself. “You both know Karin already.” Rangiku gave the girl a small wave as Toshirou outright sat down next to her as soon as she managed to pull herself from her father, sister and mother's grasp. “So this other lovely girl that I have here,” Isshin gave his lighter-haired daughter another hug, rubbing his cheek on her hair and consequently mussing it beyond help, “Is Yuzu, our youngest and the best chef in all of Karakura!”

Yuzu blushed, looking down at her lap. “I'm not that good.” she demurred, glad that she knew the two that she was being introduced to if not by name, that at least by sight. “It's good to see that you're doing well, Toshirou-kun.”

“ _It's_...” Toshirou huffed, but quickly deflated. If these were Shiba taicho's daughters, then what was the point? “...good to see you too, Kurosaki-san.”

“Mou, don't be that way, !!br0ken!! With Karin-chan and Ichigo-kun, they're practically family already.” Rangiku pouted, giving her captain a hug that wasn't all that dissimilar from hugging a wet cat. Even Yuzu managed a giggle, seeing Toshirou's less-than-pleased expression.

“And this,” Isshin hugged Masaki with one arm as she pasted on a fond-exasperated smile, rolling her eyes, “Is my lovely, beautiful, sun of my life-”

“I'm Kurosaki Masaki. This lump's wife.” She said, holding out her hand to Matsumoto to shake, “It's good to see you again, Rangiku-san. Isshin actually told me a lot about you two, it just hadn't clicked until now that my husband's lieutenant and one of my son's friends were the same person. Then again, I hadn't made the connection yet when you were the one trying to smother my son last week in the restaurant. My memory's still a little spotty sometimes.” She shifted her eyes over to Toshirou with an open smile. “And little Toshirou. You're much taller than I imagined you'd be.” Rangiku was the one that laughed this time as Toshirou shot a death glare at his ex-taicho.

“I had a growth spurt.” He ground out. He was also due for another one in the next few years, according to Unohana-taicho.

Masaki nodded with a fond smile, “children tend to do that.” she said, brushing the bangs out of her dark-haired daughter's face, much to the girl's chagrin. “Are you sitting with us for the fireworks? I do believe they're about to begin.”

Matsumoto looked at her ex-captain and her current captain, trying to decide. She knew already, without asking, that Toshirou would sit with Karin this time, instead of seeking out Momo-chan. In fact, the fifth-lieutenant had been conspicuously absent the entire day. Not only was she not on Sokyoku hill with the rest of the upper ranks and their guests, but she hadn't come to the SWA meeting that morning either. Making up her mind, she decided to bow out of sitting with her captains in favor of sitting with her boys and some booze. Now that she had seen what (or whom, in this case) she had lost to, she didn't quite feel welcome in this kind of family setting. “No. Thank you for the offer though.” She smiled, glad she hadn't really sat down in the first place, “I actually need to go to to Kira-kun to see if Momo-chan's ok. I haven't seen her all day, I just realized, and I want to see if he or Hisagi-kun know anything.” And with that, she made her exit. It wasn't her smoothest one, but it got her away from Isshin-taicho's knowing look and the warm family atmosphere that was there.

* * *

“Oi! Oi you in the tree! Get your ass down here and help us already!” Ichigo blinked, looking down from where he had perched in a tree at the back edge of Sokyoku hill's plateau, and pointed to himself. “Yeah, you. Get down here before I shoot one of 'em at _you_ instead.” Shiba Kukaku looked up at him, her hand on her hip and an impatient look on her face.

“Uh...” Looking around, Ichigo gave up his last hope that Ganju had hidden up here in the trees also. But no, now that he looked, he saw the guy over where he assumed the fireworks were going to be launched from, adjusting the angle that a series of tubes were being sitting at. Sighing, Ichigo slid off his branch, landing softly in front of one of the most intimidating women he'd ever had the dubious pleasure to interact with. He had hoped that he would get a good view of the fireworks by sitting here, but this was going to become a little _too_ close to them for comfort. Looking at his aunt? Cousin? Ichigo gave her a brief, but polite bow, “you wished to see me?”

“Yeah,” Kukaku hooked her arm around Ichigo's neck, drawing him down to her level and making him walk at a weird angle as she marched him over to their setup. “Turns out our usual help ditched us and you just happened to be here.” She gave him a grin that Ichigo honestly feared. It was similar to how Karin would get around her soccer buddies when she knew she was about to kick their asses, but on an older face that knew she could carry out her promise. “Care to lend us a hand?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and an eye that said that it would be a smarter idea to just say yes.

He couldn't help it, he really couldn't, the brief glance at her missing arm when she had said 'hand'. “Sounds like, uh, fun.” He would rather taste-test Orihime's latest concoction than help, truthfully. “What do you need me to do?”

Smirking, she gave Ichigo a 'good boy' pat as she released him and turned toward Ganju. “See those boxes? Those are the fireworks. What _you're_ going to be doing is handing _us_ the fireworks, _in order_ , while we light them and drop 'em. If we want a good show, you need to be fast. _Good thing I heard speed was your thing then, eh?”_ Kukaku grinned, knowing that it was high praise when Yoruichi, the _goddess of flash_ herself, praised a student on their speed. “The faster you hand us fireworks, _the correct fireworks_ , the faster we can get them up in the air. Though,” She held her chin, cocking her head to the side in thought for a moment, “since this is you first time, _isn't it?_ ” Ichigo nodded fervently, “I guess we can go a bit slower between each one at the beginning.” She said with the air of a queen making a benevolent declaration to one of her subjects. All it did was make him wary of the speed he'd have to run during the finale.

Walking Ichigo over to the boxes, she showed him that they were compartmentalized, with each firework having its own little cubbyhole and their individual fuses sticking proudly straight up. “Ok, it's easy to understand. You grab _only as many as you can remember the correct order of_ and take them over to us there, by the tubes.” Kukaku pointed, where Ganju waved absently. “Where you'll hand them to either Ganju or I. If we have a free hand, that's only because we're waiting for the next one to be handed over. Which is your job, so be quick about it. Oh, and don't let any of the stray sparks land on any of the fireworks. They do, and we'll be having an early night and a bigger finale than we'll be able to safely handle.”

Ichigo noted, a moment later, that what Kukaku was gesturing with and holding in her mouth wasn't her usual pipe, but a punk used for lighting the fireworks. It seemed almost... mundane, in a way, to light them that way. He would have thought that there was some complicated kido spell like some of the other techniques he'd seen the siblings use in the past. Seeing Ichigo staring at the punk, Kukaku grinned, “Maybe in a few years, kid. Right now, we just need a runner.” Like he'd ever _want_ to be crazy enough to potentially blow himself up!

“Now,” Kukaku grinned and gestured to a large box sitting a distance away from the rest of everything, “ _This_ is the finale. I'll tell you when, but with these, grab as many as you can in one go and you'll help stuff them into the tubes. See the long fuses? Make sure they're sticking out the top so that I can light 'em easier. And don't, _do not ever_ , double-up on any of the tubes. Only one per, or somebody will be sporting another one of these.” She waved her stump around, “Or worse. Got it?” Ichigo nodded, wide-eyed. Hearing things like this, he was positive about it now, they were crazy.

“Good,” Kukaku nodded, satisfied that she had instilled the importance of safety in the young man's mind before gesturing back over to the boxes. “Now go run the last warning shot over to Ganju. It's five minutes until show time.” She grinned, casually walking over to the tubes as she watched Ichigo 'practice' by sprinting between the box and handing Ganju the firework. Her younger brother lit it with a flourish, preferring to use his reiatsu than a punk, and dropped it.

F _WOOSH_!

“Aah!” Ichigo yelped, blinking spots out of his eyes and splaying his arms out like a blind man.

“Ah, oops.” Kukaku mused, a small smile on her face, “I could have sworn I told him to look away when they go off? Ah, well, experience is the best teacher, after all.” She shrugged, lighting her punk.

* * *

“Ah, shit.”

“Gesundheit.” Urahara looked up from... whatever the blueprints spread all over the table were. “Something the matter, my dear Yoruichi?”

“Yeah.” the aforementioned woman propped one elbow on the table, absently drinking from a saucer. “The festival was this weekend, wasn't it? Kukaku's gonna kill me for skippin' out on helping her 'n' Ganju with the fireworks.” Musing, she finished her saucer before pouring out some more sake. “Oh, well. I'll make it up to her next time. 'Sides, she probably got some poor grunt to do the running for her instead by now.”

* * *

About halfway through the run of fireworks, Ichigo got the brilliant idea to use the sunglasses that Zangetsu had given him. As long as he didn't actually _look_ at Ganju or Kukaku, they actually helped a surprising amount. With them, he was able to keep up with their demands, only having to be 'gently corrected' a few times in the beginning by a screaming Kukaku throwing them back at his _head_ until he gave her the correct one. The screaming, though, was expected. As well as the smoke and bright flashes coming from the launched fireworks, they were surprisingly loud as well. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to be done about the first two except to grin and bear it.

“Ugh, I smell like smoke.” Ichigo muttered to himself, not even able to hear his own words under the noise of the fireworks as he gathered up the next bundle of fireworks. While having them numbered would have been nice, it would have been ultimately useless in his half-blind state. Instead, each of them had a unique energy signature that was either Kukaku or Ganju's, that gave the impression of what order they should be placed. It was like following puzzle pieces that had to be set down in a certain order. Ironically, having to do running like this helped him start to pick out minor variances in their signatures that he was usually blind to. He never would have thought having to run fireworks like this could serve as a training beyond his oh-so-favorite method of 'don't get hit'.

Absently patting out a stray ember on his sleeve with his soot-stained hand, Ichigo handed Ganju his next firework, watching for a moment as it was lit with a spark of kido and dropped into the reinforced bamboo tube. Remembering to turn away in time, he jumped over to Kukaku and gave her the next one to be lit, rinse and repeat. Unless his sense of time was skewed, they had been doing this for a good half-hour already and they were halfway through their second to last box before the finale. Sparing a moment to look over at the box that was still tightly sealed, Ichigo absently wondered what exactly made them finale-worthy.

Smacking out another ember from the endless spark shower that all three of them had to endure, he now understood thoroughly why they dressed the way that they did. His shihakusho was getting in the way, constantly threatening for the sleeves to catch fire. Not to mention he was now sporting at least a few burnt hairs, without a doubt. The siblings normally wore sleeveless clothes, and Ganju had gone so far as to take off the whole top of his wardrobe, leaving him bare-chested to the elements. They both had bandannas that, while normally he would scoff at for looking ridiculous, he had a burgeoning jealousy of, since they were obviously fireproofed some way. Overall, it was painfully obvious that they were much more prepared for standing in a shower of sparks for nearly an hour than Ichigo was. Despite what his aura looked like, fire was most definitely not his element. Now, if only he could catch a moment or two to strip his own shirt and undershirt in an attempt to save them. His haori, ironically, had been tossed to the side and far, far away from the shower of sparks as soon as he got his sight back from Ganju's warning shot.

Gathering up the last few fireworks, he could tell that Ganju knew as well, as he was sporting a wide grin as he took his last two and proceeded to light them and shove them into two tubes at the same time before sprinting for the finale box. Kukaku had a few more that Ichigo had to hand to her one at a time while Ganju pried off the lid and started to fill the so-far-unused tubes with different fireworks.

As the last of the small ball fireworks that they had been launching went off, Ganju waved Ichigo over and shoved a few un-loaded fireworks into his arms. “Like this.” He motioned for Ichigo to watch as Ganju carefully loaded cylinder-shaped fireworks into the tubes, the fuse at the bottom carefully tugged until it came straight up the side to stand proudly at the top of the tube. As it sat, it was easy to see which ones had been loaded, and which ones hadn't, now that he knew exactly what to look for.

“Like this?” He yelled, loading the next tube over with the next firework in the series, earning a thumbs-up while Ganju ran to get the next load. Kukaku had already started at the already-filled end of the tubes and started lighting them up, only having a few second delay between the normal fireworks and these much larger ones. And with being a good quadruple the size of the other fireworks, they took a bit longer to sizzle before they launched, creating much, much larger explosions than he had seen previously. And Kukaku was launching them, one after another, quickly catching up to Ichigo. Taking a quick tally of what he held in his hands compared to how many tubes were left empty, he realized that he had enough for the entire row while Ganju had grabbed enough to fill a whole new one as he started in, barely leaving enough time for the tubes to stop smoking before the next firework was inserted. It was, in one word, insane.

As he finished up his row (Kukaku was glaring at him to hurry along by now), Ichigo ran for the box, making sure that he grabbed enough to refill the entire row, just like Ganju did. Between the two of them, they quickly emptied the entire box, only leaving three or four empty tubes at any one time as Kukaku casually walked up and down the line, launching the fireworks nearly as fast as the boys could place them. Yes, his hand got burnt, but he could see why this was something that the siblings continued to do at least a handful of times a year by the time the noise and light of the fireworks faded away. As his hearing returned, he could hear applause from across Seireitei, not just those sitting on the hill, in appreciation for the display.

“Not a bad job, kid.” Kukaku slapped Ichigo on the back with a wide grin, making the younger stumble forward a bit. “We're heading home for a shower and a late dinner, wanna come along?”

As welcoming as that sounded, Ichigo shook his head, his hands braced on his knees. “Can't.” he said, standing up and absently waving his burned hand about a bit. “I was supposed to be sitting with my friends. I should probably go over and show them that I'm still here. And probably rescue mom and the twins from dad.” He said with a wince, visually hunting down where the hell he'd tossed his haori. It was bright red and white, it shouldn't be that hard to miss.

Kukaku blinked, a slow grin spreading across her face. “Uncle Isshin's here, eh? Ganju!” She yelled over at her younger brother, who had a bundle of clothing in his fist, including Ichigo's captain's haori. “Get over here already! We're taking a short detour.” Thumping Ichigo on the shoulder, she tilted her head sideways for a moment, “Ya don't mind, do ya? Of course, your friends are invited to come along as well. The more the merrier, I say.”

Well, that answered that question. Looking at his older cousin, Ichigo shrugged as he took the offered haori from Ganju, smearing soot all over the previously pristine fabric. “As long as I can use your bathroom to wash up as well. I'll ask my friends while you can ask the family. We might be a few minutes though.”

“That's fine. We still need to pick up a few things that we don't want to leave until tomorrow anyway. We'll meet you over by your family.” Ichigo nodded and flash stepped over to where his trio of human friends were picking up their area, absently removing his sunglasses beforehand.

“Yo, how-”

“You smell like a bonfire.” Tatsuki cut in, wrinkling her nose.

Giving a wide smile and still riding on the high of being in a performance, Ichigo threw his arms wide and stepped towards his oldest friend. “It's _Eu de Boom_ , wanna give me a hug?”

Tatsuki stopped him with just her dry stare. _Touch me and die._ “Where the hell were you?” She asked instead, looking over his soot-streaked face and hands.

“I got volun-told to help with the display, actually.” He said, turning his arms to get a hug from either Inoue or Chad, but getting a polite decline from both before dropping his arms. “Do you want to come with us to get a late dinner at Kukaku's? She's invited everyone.”

Inoue and Chad agreed readily enough, but Tatsuki wasn't so sure, “Who?” _And what about you getting a shower?_ She asked.

“Oh, the Shibas are really nice, you'll like them!” Inoue said, happily tugging on Tatsuki's hand, “Ganju-san helped us rescue Rukia and Kukaku-san helped us break in to Seireitei by launching all of us up in a giant cannonball, breaking the barrier with a giant kerr-rash!” She said, like it was a normal, everyday, thing. All Tatsuki could do in response was raise a disbelieving eyebrow and look to Sado and Ichigo for the real story. Shockingly, they both nodded, one a bit more reluctantly than the other, in agreement. Apparently there was a bit more to the story that she hadn't been told. Big surprise there.

“What the hell happened to you? And you _are_ planning on taking a bath before you stink up all of Seireitei, right?” Spotting Rukia, Ichigo waved her over, only for her to stop a good two meters away and cross her arms.

“Change of plans.” Ichigo said, completely ignoring the questions, “Kukaku's invited everyone over for a post-fireworks dinner, you in?”

Well, that explained his appearance. Though… it was the Shibas. Even though she had been able to speak with them (at Ichigo's insistence), she was still hesitant to wear out her welcome too quickly when it came to the siblings, at least when it came to personal things. “No. Thank you, but I think I'll head home.” She broke in with the biggest, fake-est yawn possible, “It's getting pretty late and I should probably go home. Tell the twins sorry for me, ok?”

“Yeah, I'll do that.” Ichigo saw right through his excuse, but decided not to say anything about it. This time at least. “I'll see you later then?”

“Are you staying around tomorrow?” She asked, already half-turned.

Ichigo shrugged, his thumbs absently hooked in his waistband. “I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of us stay the night. We'll see.”

“Ok,” Rukia nodded, “I'll see you next weekend.” She turned the rest of the way, walking back to her brother before both siblings started to head to the Kuchki manor.

Waving a goodbye to Rukia's back, he turned back to his human friends. “Ready to go then?” Getting a nod, he took them over to his family, seeing hesitant introductions being made. His father looked sheepish, but proud as he faced Kukaku and introduced his family. Masaki, amused at her husband's antics, was actually the first one to see Ichigo arrive.

“Stop it right there, young man.” She barked, “What did you get yourself into this time?”

“Onii-san,” Yuzu wrinkled her nose, seeing her brother's soot-streaked visage, “You smell like you were smoking.”

Kukaku couldn't help but to give a bark of a laugh, slapping Ichigo on the back hard enough to jostle some soot loose, “He probably was at some point! Still, not bad for his first time. I may have to borrow him next time too.” She looked at Isshin, who looked at Ichigo, shaking his head frantically, making the cut-throat gesture, “That is, if you don't mind, Uncle?”

Isshin shrugged, Indifferent to Ichigo's plight, “I don't mind. Builds character, I'll say.” And that was that. If Ichigo changed his mind and helped his cousins again, more the better. And if he didn't, well, the boy would learn not to get too close to the launching stage next time. He had fond memories of his own time working the fireworks and actually being the one to teach the siblings how to pack their first ones. They had done more than a spectacular job tonight, even with the apparent last-minute change in help. Hmm… maybe he could get the girls in on the action. With Yuzu's cooking skills and Karin's energy, he was sure that they could come up with something interesting. It was almost more fun watching the awe in the twins' eyes than watching the actual show itself. Their eyes sparkled with wonder and they were always willing to launch off the small fireworks and sparklers given out during the festivals.

Leaving a hand-shaped soot mark on his face, Ichigo sighed and turned to Yuzu, knowing already that he wouldn't be allowed to get any closer smelling (and looking) as he currently did. “Hey, Yuzu, you about finished packing up? Kukaku invited us over for a late dinner.” Yuzu looked unsure about the invite, but finished packing away the last of the bento boxes anyway. Karin, on the other hand, looked like she had just won VIP as she 'helped' by balling up the blanket and shoving it (unsuccessfully) into the pack, more than ready to go. “Toshi, you're coming too, right?” She asked, not even bothering to check with their host for approval first. Well, at the very least, they knew that Karin was willing to tag along.

“No,” Toshirou looked over and spotted his subordinate staggering to her feet, clutching a bottle of sake and winced, “I should probably help Matsumoto find her futon before she passes out in some random alleyway… _again_.” He muttered, sending a brief glare to his ex-captain (Like it was his fault that she had drunk herself into oblivion several times the first few months after his disappearance, making Toshirou have to pick up the slack from both and never quite putting it down again) before excusing himself and giving the Kurosaki/Shiba families a bow.

“Ok. I'll see ya around Toshi.” Karin waved as he went off before remembering something, “Wait, Toshirou, what about your-!”

“Keep 'em.” He said over his shoulder, not turning back.

He missed the small smile that crossed Karin's face as she touched the green scarf she had used to tie her sleeves back. “Right.” Karin chirped, turning to her twin only after she had managed to wrangle her face into a more neutral expression, “Do you need me to carry anything?” She asked, not saying anything about that Yuzu had managed to re-fold the blanket that Karin had crumpled in the few seconds that she had looked away.

“No, I'm good. See?” She had indeed managed to fit everything back into the small backpack that she had been carrying all day. How it all fit… it must have been either magic or one of the creepy shopkeeper's inventions.

“Great! Then are we all ready to go then?” Kukaku asked, clapping her hands together.

“Actually...” Masaki grimaced, turning to her husband to pull him down for a small kiss. “I think I need to head back too. You may not remember it, old man (“Old! I'm not old, I'm experienced!”), but the dorm's do have a curfew and I'm going to be late as it is.”

“I can always make excuses for you,” Isshin pouted, putting his hands on Masaki's hips and pulling her close for another kiss, “You know, ex-captain and all, I _do_ still have that kind of authority. What do you think?” He hummed, rocking them both gently from side to side, “You, me, get a hotel room for the night. Ichigo can watch the girls and...”

“You can stop right there, mister.” She tried to be serious, oh she tried, but a small smile played at her lips as she put her finger on his lips (He kissed them automatically, grinning as he did so), “Not on the first date. Besides,” she went up on her toes, pulling him close to nibble on an earlobe, “ _that's what school vacations are for._ ” She whispered, earning a whimper and a nod from Isshin. He hadn't thought about it until now, but he had missed the sight of his then-future-wife in her high school uniform.

An embarrassed cough from the side drew both their attentions to Ichigo, who was thoroughly convinced that, dark or not, the others could all see how red his blush had become. “Ah… we'll go ahead then, ok Dad? You can catch up when you can.” And with that, he herded everyone else away from the two lovebirds.

“ _He grew up so fast._ ” Masaki murmured, placing an ear over her husband's heart as she watched Ichigo herd the others in his group away.

“ _You have no idea._ ” He replied, kissing the top of her head in response. “We should get going, since you're already _late for curfew and all._ ” He teased, earning a light slap on his pec for the teasing.

“Well, it's good to see the old man's flame is still burning bright.” Tatsuki muttered, letting herself be herded along, just for the very fact that she didn't want to be touched by one of Ichigo's outstretched, soot-streaked, sweaty, arms.

“I think it's romantic.” Yuzu couldn't help but squeal, blushing and hugging her backpack close like a teddy bear.

“You would.” came Karin's retort, standing firmly in Ichigo's camp.

“Great, now that that's settled,” Kukaku looked around, taking a head-count of dinner guests. The number had, unexpectedly, exploded. Eh, it's not like she hadn't hosted the majority of this group without warning before. “Transportation. How many of you can flash step?” The tall one, Ganju and Ichigo raised their hands, while the redhead and the dark-haired girl (Karin? She would have to remember their names) did a sort of waffling, half-hearted, shrug. Which left the taller dark-haired girl and the tawny-headed (Yuzu?) one. “Right. Big guy, can you get either of the older girls? Ichigo, you get the other one. Ganju, you'll grab her and I'll help this one.” She said, plopping her hand down on Karin's head. That way, things would be evened out between the heavy lifters.

“Ugh,” Tatsuki wrinkled her nose, looking at Ichigo, “Can I not?” A, she didn't want to be dropped and B… he stunk. And was filthy.

“A… ano. I can make it on my own,” Orihime interjected. She may not be the fastest, but she could keep up to a casual flash step in her own way. Kukaku nodded, gesturing for the girl that complained to go over to the giant instead. She raised an eyebrow when she gave the redhead a longing look instead, but eventually made her way over. Looking around, she nodded and prepared to take off. Though, at the last second, she caught sight of the tawny-haired one biting her lip like she wanted to say something, but didn't have the courage to do so.

“Yes?” Kukaku asked, somewhat impatiently, looking down at the light-haired twin. “You have something to say about the arrangement?”

“N-no… It's just...” She was cut off by a cat that Kukaku hadn't seen before rubbing on the light-haired twin's chin then jumping off. It gave a small 'meow', that quickly turned into a roar as it grew to the size of a lion, with a flaming mane and tail, wearing a set of modified old samurai armor that was painted red. While nearly everyone in the group went for their various weapons, the tawny-head girl smiled and gave the lion a hug, ignoring the flames that surrounded her, but didn't seem to touch her. “Karin-chan and I can ride Raku, if you don't mind Shiba-san. That way we won't inconvenience anyone else.” The dark-haired twin blinked in shock before stepping forward with a nod, the more hesitant one for a change.

“It's Kukaku, or Kukaku-san if you have to be formal about it.” She rested her hand on her hip and looked to Ichigo for his opinion. “Doesn't bother me any.”

“Uh…” Ichigo wasn't quite sure anymore, having seen his youngest sister's _cat_ just turn into a flaming _lion-samurai thing_ like it was _normal_. Their family could do strange things, so maybe it was actually Yuzu's zanpakutou or something similar. Really, the cat had been nearby the entire time that Yuzu had been in seireitei, whether on his sister's shoulder, held in her arms, or walking silently behind them. At the very least, they had a connection, he could tell that much. A string connected their hearts, after all. “Just be careful. I'll be right beside you in case it (“Raku!”), Raku, I'm sorry Yuzu, decides to buck you off.” He couldn't trust the cat-lion immediately, but it hadn't done anything dangerous the entire day. Musing to himself, he looked at the lion closely. Maybe… it could be some sort of shikigami or mononoke Bakeneko that had attached itself to Yuzu for some reason or another.

Grinning at her older brother's permission, Yuzu easily swung up onto Raku's back (despite her tight yukata) like she had been doing so her entire life. Karin, on the other hand, despite having hakama on and thus able to properly straddle the lion, had some troubles. “Here, Karin, hold onto me, ok?” Yuzu smiled, one hand plunged into the depths of Raku's fiery mane to hold on to… something. Likely the back strap of Raku's head piece, or an actual handle for her to hold onto when riding. She used her other hand to guide Karin into a good seat that would let her wrap her arms around Yuzu's torso during the trip.

Soon after, they were off. Ichigo keeping pace easily by keeping one hand on the lion's haunch. There was no way that he would allow the twins to fall, even if it was only a small distance. The first sign of trouble, and he would snatch both of them up, stink and soot or not.

Tatsuki ended up being the only one being carried and she decided to do it piggyback style, glaring at Chad until he turned around and offered his back. She was no princess and she would not be treated as one for as long as she had any say in it. Silently, she vowed that that would be the first thing she learned as soon as she learned how to access her powers: how to keep up with the others. If Orihime could even do it, so could she. Then again… Tatsuki looked back at where Orihime was. She was certainly the slowest of the group, but between using her triangle force-field as a kind of moving platform and the kind of light-flashing steps that Sado was doing, she was keeping up.

It as a matter of minutes before they came upon, and passed over, the actual festival grounds, filled with booths of food and prizes, the sound of taiko drums filling the air. While it would have been fun to go, there was always a next time, of that they had no doubt. It was the afterlife, after all. Time was something that they had in spades. Passing through the gate was a matter of smiling at the giant guard and explaining who the new faces were, telling him that they were allowed to go anywhere they pleased, so long as they had permission now. There was a small hiccup when, realizing that Ichigo was wearing a captain's cloak, they had to explain that Ichigo wasn't just attempting a new scheme to sneak around like the sneaky ryoka that he was.

That being said, it was not a moment too soon before the group made their way to Kukaku's house and were greeted by the last two remaining Shiba retainers. “Lady Kukaku, we have prepared a bath and dinner, as per your instructions.”

“Good,” Kukaku said, dumping her travel pack off to one side of the hallway, easily slipping off her geta and kicking them off to the side as well. “We've got guests, so we'll need more dinner and another bath drawn for Ichi here. Apparently,” she gave a wry grin, watching the others all remove their shoes with different amounts of grace, “he stinks just as much as Ganju does.”

“Oi!” Ichigo protested, nearly tripping as he untied his waraji, “And whose fault is that?”

“Never mind.” Kukaku said, her eyes shuttering, “we can just dump him in Ganju's bath instead.”

“Oi, oi, oi!” he exclaimed, wrangled around the neck by Ganju as he headed straight for his bath.

“Don't worry Ichigo, It'll be fun. I'll even wash your back for ya!” He said, flashing a thumbs-up to his sister as they passed, “Don't worry about a thing, Nee-san, I'll get him nice 'n' clean for ya!”

Kukaku nodded absently, her fingers already tracing for the knot keeping her headscarf of, pulling it free with a flourish and handing it to the gold-shirted assistant. “Koganehiko, could you make sure that Ichigo gets a change of clothes while his Shihakusho gets washed? And air out some bedding in case they decided to stay the night.”

“Yes, Kukaku-sama” the gold-shirted assistant bowed, turning to leave, along with his white-shirted brother retainer.

“A-ano, Shiro-san” Shiroganehiko stopped as he felt a small tug to the bottom hem of his shirt. “If you're going to cook more dinner, may I help you in the kitchen? I won't be a bother, I promise.” He looked down at a tawny head holding a kitten before giving his mistress an uncertain look.

Shrugging, she looked to the dark haired twin, who nodded, before turning back to her old tutor. “It's the first thing she's said for her own benefit the entire time I've seen 'em, so I don't see why not.” Kukaku dismissed, not missing the happy smile she received in return as she passed the small cat off to her sister. “Ah!” Kukaku stretched, flinging both her arms above her head and arching her back, “Bath time! You all know where to go, right?” She asked at the last minute, getting nods from at least half the group before nodding back and waving absently. “Well, you know we don't stand on formality here. See ya in a few then.” She waved off, prancing off to her personal chambers and the bath that was just screaming her name.

Bowing to his mistress' guests, Shiroganehiko led them to the dining hall before taking the smallest with him to the kitchen. He sighed internally, maybe he could have her stir some miso soup or something? She looked enthusiastic at helping, but he doubted that she could actually do much. “Oh!” Kukaku popped her head out of her room with a smile, “Plus one more, Shiroganehiko! Uncle Isshin's going to coming by for dinner too.” And her door closed with a final 'snap'. Right, so that would be at least five big eaters to serve, instead of just the two siblings, and four normal portion sizes, if he guessed correctly. Putting on more rice would definitely be prudent, as well as he could pull out some pickles from cold storage and maybe make a salad…

“A-ano… Shiro-san?” The retainer blinked, looking down. Oh, yes, his 'helper'. He had to think of something for her to do as well.

Looking around, Yuzu could definitely see that the kitchen was sized for the two larger-than-life retainers, instead of the normal human size that she was used to. Using a spare hair ribbon, she used it to tie back her sleeves before deciding on what to do first. This was her element and she welcomed the challenge. “Where is the rice?” She asked, missing the flash of shock that crossed the retainer's face before it settled into a vaguely-curious neutral expression. “I think we should start with that first. And what do you have that we could pull out at the last minute? I'm sure you have at least a few pickled vegetables that we could serve. And what was the main dish that you served and do we have enough to make more of the same, or should we just save that for Kukaku-sama and Ganju-sama and make something else for the rest of us. I can easily whip up something like curry or tempura. Ah,” She blushed, realizing that she wasn't in charge here, “That is, if you don't already have a plan.”

Shiroganehiko shook his head, secretly impressed. “We made Grilled Mackerel.” He said, leading her over to the rice pot and showing her the inside, “Will this be big enough?”

Looking inside, she could see enough rice remaining for two, maybe with a second helping each, that was for the siblings' dinner. The pot itself, though, was more than large enough to cook rice for everybody. Maybe not seconds, but she could easily make things stretch. And if she mixed in the old rice with the new when it was done cooking, there would be none the wiser. “Yes. Could you hand me a bowl for the old rice before rinsing some new rice to put in? We can recombine it after cooking, so that the old doesn't get overcooked by the time we're done. Then we can work on more Mackerel and the side dishes while the fish is cooking.” If the Shibas ran their house like she ran hers, there would be plenty of Mackerel in storage to cook for a simple meat dish, so she didn't have to worry about having to come up with something different. The two plates that were done and waiting under the broiler could wait the rest of the fillets were done easily. And if one got a bit too toasty during the wait, well, she would just take that one for herself.

Soon enough, the prep table in the middle of the kitchen was heavily laden with many, many dishes with individual servings for each person. The small girl, Yuzu, she had absently introduced herself at one point, was surprisingly handy with a knife, once he had allowed her to touch one. She had tossed sakura-shaped carrot coins into a small salad that she had easily whipped together, after tasting the miso soup and stretched it sufficiently to fill nearly a dozen stomachs comfortably. All this while tending the mackerel diligently, flipping each portion at the perfect time to just char the skin while leaving the delicate flesh inside cooked to perfection. Shiroganehiko, he was reluctant to admit, had been relegated to pulling out various ingredients for the small whirlwind and plating the rice, miso, and pickles according to her instructions. She certainly had a discerning eye when it came to presentation. Even the rice, not meeting approval exactly to her specifications, had taken hold of the rice paddle and created the perfect rounded mound, topping each with a sprig of fresh herb that he wasn't aware was even in their kitchen.

Stepping back and looking at the various serving trays, Yuzu placed her hands on her hips and gave them a benevolent nod. “Thank you for allowing me to assist you, Shiroganehiko-san!” She chirped with a low bow, as if she had done nothing but sit in the corner the entire time! He honestly didn't know how to take the small girl. He should be the one thanking her, not the other way around! So, with a small nod, he ushered her into the dining room, absently noting that Isshin-sama had arrived with a bow and that the trio had returned from their baths. He paused and stared for a moment as he caught sight of the carrot-topped young man in Kaien-sama's old sleeping yukata. Whether they realized it or not, he had sat down in the seat that had stood empty since the eldest sibling's death. Caught staring, the young man raised an arm in greeting, an all-to-familiar gesture that snapped him out of his reverie before he ducked away and back into the kitchen.

Inside Koganehiko caught his eye and gave his brother-retainer a small nod. He had seen the similarity too. The only difference being their hair and eye color, to which both retainers were glad for the boy's mysterious maternal family. If the Shiba line's standard coloring had become present in the boy, it would be too much to bear stoically. Still, they served the siblings and the red-headed Kaien-the-younger first, as being the honored guest, before serving the rest of the guests around the table. Koga must have pulled the little-used table out of storage after his other chores had been taken care of. It had been a long time since a gathering like this had happened, and even longer since it was more than just the siblings representing the family.

Oh, yes, looking at Isshin-sama and overhearing various conversations over the years, it wasn't too hard to figure things out. After Kaien-sama's death and Isshin-sama's supposed-death, the siblings had been quiet and reclusive about their rapidly-shrinking family. Then Yoruichi-sama had come, bringing along a rag-tag group of humans and the one that looked like Kaien to the point it hurt. The first night, after the human children and Ganju-sama were asleep, the two women had talked. Kukaku-sama had been shocked (as they all had been), but soon understood that Isshin-sama's situation was a secret. The not-Kaien-sama boy was Isshin's eldest, heir, and only son, there to rescue a friend he had made in the (not then) Kuchiki heir, and all not while knowing a lick of his father's history, nor his Shiba heritage. The retainers had also agreed that night, after the women had passed out from their drinks, acknowledged or not, they would treat Isshin's children with the proper respect that all the children of the Shiba clan deserved.

Sitting at the table, The two younger girls, while trickier to figure out, were obviously Isshin-sama's children as well. In that, at least one had indeed been born with pure Shiba looks. Black hair and gray eyes, with a look that spelled danger if she didn't get her way. The lighter-haired one… she was different. While she had her own strengths, she had an air about her that screamed a preference toward the more delicate things in life. She would make a wonderful bride to another noble house, if she was so inclined to do so. A family like the Kuchiki would likely be a good fit, but that was years down the road yet. She had an air about her that spoke of knowing just how to rule a household, all while playing the delicate flower. Kukaku-sama could learn a thing or two from the child.

The older girl with dark hair… seemed like she was of Shiba blood as well, but she didn't quite hold herself as being part of the family, though she was close to Isshin-sama's children. Maybe Isshin-sama had adopted the girl, though he had two of his own girls already, or she was possibly engaged to Isshin-sama's heir? The only way to know was to ask, but that was so far out of the question that the retainers didn't dare to mention it. They would just have to press their ears to the shoji screen doors and hope for an answer, like all good retainers did.

Keeping an ear out, the retainers remained in the kitchen and cleaned what they could, taking empty dishes away from the dinner guests as they worked their way through the courses. Soon enough, the meals were finished and the light-haired girl came back into the kitchen with one last pile of dishes and offered to help clean. That idea was immediately nixed as Koganehiko ushered the girl back into the dining room and offered to prepare baths for the remaining guests to use. The girl immediately refused, for politeness' sake, but was loudly overruled by the one he later learned was Karin. Nodding, he left to prepare the bath in the room he had set out for the female guests to use, running a second bath in the men's room as well, just in case.

Meanwhile, Ichigo Pulled Yuzu into his lap for a hug, hooking his chin on her shoulder briefly. “Thanks for the meal, Yuu.”

“I-I...” Yuzu blushed, sitting still as she saw Sado-san toss Ichigo a small pocket knife to cut the small rubber bands out of her hair for the bath. A long time ago, when Ichigo had first tried this style, they had tried pulling the bands out, but quickly realized that it was a painful idea. It was easier in the long term just to sacrifice the cheap bands and buy a new packet when the current one ran out. “Shiroganehiko-san did most of the work.” She deferred, quietly tucking away the kanzashi when Ichigo handed them to her. “I just assisted where he allowed me to.”

Not wanting to argue the point, Ichigo just nodded. He knew that she had done more than she was willing to admit, knowing Yuzu's little cooking quirks and flourishes by heart. Absently, he wrapped the green ribbon around his wrist before working the flutter off her strawberry barrette and handing it back to her to clip to her lapel. She knew, especially after certain events, to keep the barrette that Ichigo made for her specially with her at all times, even if she didn't wear it in her hair. In a way, Ichigo had explained to her, it was something like the charms their father made them for the new year and Inoue-san's hair clips. Though what precisely Inoue-san's hair clips had to do about anything, she had practically no clue. In the end, she had just nodded and stuck it in her hair to keep some of the flyaway hairs out of her face. Some days she missed her old cherry-shaped one, but the strawberry was cute too. And it reminded her of her brother! She knew Ichigo was finished when he ran his hand through her crimped locks, making them fall messily about her face in a way that she now understood her mother's did.

Neither bothered moving Yuzu off when Karin moved in to get her hair taken care of as well. Hers was easy enough to deal with, only having to pull a single pin and untangling a single ribbon that was holding her hair together. That ribbon was wrapped around Ichi-nii's wrist as well, only the pin and single white/blue bead being returned to Yuzu's satchel. Finished, he tucked Karin under one arm and folded the other around Yuzu's stomach and leaned back against the wall, half-listening to the others talking as his eyes slowly fell shut.

* * *

 

It seemed only a moment later when his eyes snapped open, something having disturbed him. It took a moment to focus, but he did so, staring into Ganju's fear-widened eyes. “Hey,” Tatsuki pushed past the man, giving Ichigo a soft smile after giving Ganju a warning look. “It's ok, you're safe. You're at the Shiba's house and you fell asleep sitting up. Can you...” She gestured, prompting Ichigo to look around.

“Oh.” He muttered, finally realizing what the matter was. Held taut between his hands were the girls' ribbons, glowing and snapping with power as a barrier bubbled up between the three siblings and the rest of the room. “Sorry.” He must have fallen asleep, otherwise something like wouldn't have happened.

“Maybe you should head off to bed.” Isshin suggested just as quietly, waiting until the barrier was dropped before scooping a half-conscious Karin into his arms. “The girls too. Everyone else has taken their baths and Sado-san looks about to fall asleep as well. I don't know about you, but I don't think there's a force here that could move him if he did.” Ichigo grunted, easily picking up Yuzu as he stood up. Looking around, indeed the room seemed emptier than earlier. It seemed like Kukaku and Orihime had disappeared, leaving himself, the girls, Tatsuki, Chad, Dad and Ganju in the room.

Watching Uncle Isshin and his family go, Ganju turned to the dark-haired girl with wide eyes, wanting an explanation. She seemed like the only one in the room still completely conscious that hadn't jumped when that barrier had been thrown up. And his _eyes_ , when Ichigo had first opened them, he could swear they were yellow and at least a little slitted, like a cat's. Then the younger man had blinked and they had gone back to their normal, if tired, brown. “What was that?” He hissed, meaning the eye change and brief flash of otherworldly, almost hollow-like, malicious aura.

Tatsuki shrugged, absently adjusting her thin obi. (She wore it like a man, in Ganju's opinion) “It happens sometimes. Especially when he gets startled and he's in total 'big brother' mode.” She could remember a few times when she had been on the inside of that particular barrier, but more times than not, on the outside. “And he does it by accident every time; never consciously for some reason.” She gave another shrug before trying to smother a yawn. “Welp, I'm going to bed. See ya.” He watched her, mystified. Hadn't she seen the yellow eyes as well? He wasn't crazy, was he? Blinking and looking away, he knew that he wouldn't get an answer tonight. Maybe he could find some answers in the morning, when they were all more awake.

...Or he had dreamed the whole thing, and he was already in bed. Either way, that was some powerful barrier work. He knew the kid had talent, he had seen glimpses of it before, now just how to _tap_ it.

Waiting outside the room that she and Orihime were sharing with the twins, Ichigo leaned against the door frame with a tired smile. “Hey.” he murmured, drawing Tatsuki into a small hug the same way he would his sisters, “going to bed?”

“Yeah. You?” she replied, letting herself be pulled into leaning against Ichigo. (When had he gotten so _tall_?)

“Yeah. Think you're good being shut in for the night?” She knew what he was talking about and nodded. “Good. I'll see you guys in the morning then.” Nodding, she slid sideways off Ichigo and into the room, carefully moving around to the last available futon. The last thing that Ichigo saw was Tatsuki moving her bedding to be right next to Orihime's, like the twins had earlier pushed theirs together as well. Shutting the shoji door, Ichigo absently tucked the ribbons between one of the slats and the thick paper that made the bulk of the sliding door. While it wouldn't create a powerful barrier like it did while he held the ribbons, it would alert him if the room was disturbed at all. It wasn't exactly a shinigami technique, but something that he had picked up… somewhere, he couldn't remember. The ribbons, having been worn all day by the twins, had absorbed some of their power, as well as Ichigo's, so tied the three of them together. It was something between a monitor and a trip-wire; easily broken and one-time-use, but it got the job done. He had to come up with something to compensate with how much he sucked at sensing others' reiatsu, after all.

Shuffling off to where he had somehow gotten his own room, he was stopped by a brief half-hug and forehead kiss from his father, the likes that he had given Tatsuki moments before. “ _You did good._ ” Isshin whispered into his hair, “ _now go get some rest_.” Nodding, he watched his father close the door to the room that he was sharing with Chad behind him, leaving him in the hallway alone. Walking into his own room, he absently wondered why he wasn't bunking with Chad and his dad instead. It wasn't like there wasn't any room, since their room was the same size as the girls' (he had slept in that room previously, so he should know). Instead, he was in this new room that looked like it was well taken care of, like the rest of the house, but nobody had spent any great amount of time in here outside of simple cleaning and maintenance.

The walls that weren't decorated in shoji were painted a very pale blue-green and an old wall scroll hung in a nook. He knew, with tradition, that the decorations in similar nooks were changed seasonally, but it looked like that one hadn't changed in at least a few. There were no flowers in the vase decorated with a wave pattern that sat on a small shelf, and the scroll held a poem about corkscrewing waves. The whole room was pretty and looked lived in, but for some reason gave Ichigo goosebumps if he thought too hard about it. Even the almost-musty-smelling futon cover had a wave pattern on it, he noticed as he crawled into it. Deciding it was too much to worry about for now, he decided, if he remembered, to ask Kukaku-san in the morning. Likely she'd have an answer.

* * *

 

Only a handful of hours later, Ichigo woke up with a start, looking around in confusion. Not seeing anything wrong, he decided to get up and get a glass of water, meandering half-asleep down familiar corridors until he reached the kitchen. Even never having been in it before, he somehow knew exactly where the glasses would be (why wouldn't they be where they were always stored?) and poured himself a cup of water before heading back to his room. Maybe he should check on his siblings? Ichigo decided for himself, standing outside Kukaku's room (No, that was wrong.) before shaking his head. There! He heard a small gasp and rustle and turned toward the girl's room. It took a moment, but names came to his mind. Karin. But the gasp sounded like Yuzu's.

_Oh. Yeah._ Ichigo touched the ribbon hanging on the door. _That was what woke him up_. “Ichigo.” Isshin whispered, making Ichigo's head snap up as he half-turned toward his father's leaning out of the room across the hall. “Are you going to get that, or should I?” The man asked, nodding toward the girls' room. It took a moment, but Ichigo nodded, feeling out his sister's agitated energy in his half-awake state. It was a bad one this time. “Do you think you'll need one?” Isshin asked, hand in his yukata sleeve, ready to pull 'one' out.

“...Yeah.” Ichigo nodded, absently glad that he had brought the glass of water (why had he gone for a glass of water? Because it was soothing, that's why.) already. Pulling out a small triangle packet filled with powder, Isshin handed it over and watched his son enter the girls' room, absently tucking the ribbon back into the shoji before closing it behind him. He wondered if Ichigo was aware that his eyes were glowing faintly blue, or if he would remember his night wanderings this time.

“Ichi-nii?” Came a small voice from the dark as Ichigo closed the door.

“Shh,” Ichigo knelt at Yuzu's side, laying his hand on the girl's forehead. “I'm here now, you can go back to sleep.” Kariin didn't move from her half-lying position as she watched Yuzu continue to struggle in her nightmare. After pulling the youngest into his lap and that not working, Ichigo quietly asked Karin to go and wet a small hand towel. Immediately, she slipped off to the en-suite bathroom and did as asked. Meanwhile, Ichigo opened the packet with one hand and poured about half the contents into Yuzu's mouth. He would save the rest of the specially-prepared sedative if half didn't work. Not waking her up, he carefully made sure that she drank enough water to wash down the medicine, tilting her head up so that she didn't choke. Returning with the towel, Ichigo took it and folded it into a triangle, draping it over the back of her neck. Hopefully the sensation would help draw her out. (It had worked with Kukaku when she was young, why wouldn't it work now?) “Lie down,” He had to think for a moment. The one in his lap was Yuzu, “Karin, and go to sleep. All we can do now is wait.”

The dark-haired twin nodded, not noticing her big brother's hiccup as she pulled the futon cover over her shoulder and turned to face her siblings. The air here affected her dreams too, but it seemed much more potent to Yuzu. She always seemed to have nightmares lately, but this one was particularly bad. She watched as Ichigo settled himself against the wall they were sleeping near, leaning against it with Yuzu propped up in his arms. Her shaking was less prevalient now, and her breathing had started to even out, so that was good. Deciding that Ichigo had everything handled, Karin closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

It was several hours later when Ichigo drifted off as well, still leaning against the wall in the girls' room and holding onto Yuzu tightly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: a bit of a time skip for the next chapter. Remember, this is all minimally edited. Editing's for the next few months. _after_ NaNoWriMo's done.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NaNo's pretty much over, so don't be surprised if things slow down a bit in the updating department (I am going to go back and fix some things in the next couple of months). Sorry, but this is a bit of a filler chapter.

“Onii-chan! You have mail!” Yuzu yelled up the stairs, sorting through the day's mail and putting all of the clinic-related things in daddy's in-box. Every once in a while, there would be a letter or post card for either her or Karin, or an invoice or something for Onii-chan, but this one looked special. It was folded traditionally, bearing a seal that she only saw a handful of times a year. Biting her lip, she debated on whether to bring it up to his room or just leave it on the table for him to pick up later. Whatever was in the letters, never made her brother happy, that was for sure. But if she tried to ask him what it was, he would become close-lipped for the rest of the day. Deciding that it was better to leave her brother alone, she left it on the kitchen table for him to find later, yelling upstairs to say that she had done so. Sometimes, when he left things on his desk when he was asleep, he wouldn't find it until much, much later. His desk was never messy, per say, but it wasn't exactly a cleared surface most days either.

A while later, she heard rustling around in her kitchen and went to see if anyone needed any help (and to gently remind them that dinner was still about an hour away). It was Onii-chan but… not. Yuzu squinted trying to make the form out clearer. She could swear that he had been upstairs taking a nap. At least, that's what she thought she had seen when she had peeked inside his room earlier to drop off a load of laundry. Then again, he was awfully unresponsive. Though, it wasn't the first time that she had found her brother sleeping that hard in the past. Squinting, she looked at her brother, trying to make him clearer. “Onii...”

“Hey, Yuzu.” Ichigo said, closing the refrigerator after pulling out a bottle of water. Noticing her squint, he moved closer and touched her shoulder, giving her enough energy to see him clearly. “Better?” She nodded. Biting her lip, she didn't want to say anything but… she could have sworn that her brother had been upstairs. And he had most definitely not just come from upstairs. “Hey, what's for dinner?” He asked, drawing her attention back to his face. Hadn't she also yelled that up the stairs not ten minutes ago? Then again, that hadn't gotten a response either.

“Tonkatsu. Like I said earlier Onii-chan, and it'll be ready in an hour.” She saw him wince and a spark of knowledge lit up in her eye. “There's also a letter on the table for you. It looks like one of those fancy ones. The wince turned into a grimace as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.

“Thanks, Yuzu.” He said letting go and moving to the table to grab the letter. As he walked away, the clarity of his shape fuzzed out as well, though it wasn't her eyes. Everything else stayed just as clear as ever. She was just barely able to watch as he opened the envelope and absently started up the stairs.

“A-ano...” She spoke up at the last minute, earning a curious glance from Ichigo. “You…'re out of your body right now. A spirit.”

Giving an embarrassed look, Ichigo nodded. “Sorry about that. I was out training. I'll warn you next time so you're not startled when I leave my body around. I forgot.”

Yuzu shook her head. “It's ok, Onii-chan. I just thought you were really asleep. Just be careful.”

“Yeah.” Ichigo nodded, absently wondering where Kon went, and if he should bother asking Geta-boshi after him, or if he should just leave things be. Dad and Karin knew exactly why 'he' was unresponsive while he was 'taking naps', and now it seemed like Yuzu was getting some sort of idea to the same end. Especially since he was trying to make the practice to spend as much time out of his gigai as possible, so it wouldn't burn out too quickly. “Thanks Yuu.” He repeated, holding up the letter and walking upstairs.

“Ooh, my dear Yu-zu-cha-an,” Isshin stuck his head through the door that separated the house from the clinic, “Could you be a dear and help daddy for a minute?” In the background, she could hear quite the temper tantrum building up. Listening for a moment, Yuzu understood exactly what the issue was and gave her father a smile, trying to remember if there were any stuffies left in the office, or would she have to grab one from her room.

“Just a minute, Daddy.” She chirped, putting down the duster and absently washed her hands in the kitchen sink. Deciding that there should be one or two still left in the clinic (they had to be specially washed and disinfected after each child, and more often than not, they ended up going with the child as well.), she ducked into the clinic and pulled on her 'nurse uniform' (It was a small lab coat that was dyed pink) and perched the small nurses hat on her head with the help of a pair of bobby pins. Sitting in a cabinet right next to the door was her 'special equipment': a teddy bear (spring green with a bright pink heart) in plastic packaging, a hand rattle and a small rain-stick that was about the length of her forearm. The rain-stick was only used in dire emergency, but she brought it along anyway. Smiling to herself briefly as she tucked the rattle into her pocket and the stick up her sleeve, she remembered her last birthday and Onii-chan's friend Sado had given her the instruments as souveneers from his last trip back from Mexico. Karin had gotten the largest, most ridiculous straw hat. If she remembered correctly, Sado-san had called it a Sombrero. Yuzu had promptly stolen it and used it while she was gardening.

Knocking, Yuzu opened the door and 'walked' the green bear into the room. “What seems to be the matter, Kurosaki-sensei?” She asked in a squeaky play-pretend voice. Carefully, she peeked around the door, careful that only her arm holding the bear was visible. Her father was sitting in his usual swivel chair, facing a three-year-old boy that was crying up a storm on the bed. One pant leg was rolled up to the thigh and the skin under was still wet from the alcohol swab. The mother, who was sitting in the guest chair, looked almost about ready to cry herself.

Turning enough to just barely see the door from where he was sitting, Isshin gave a wide smile, “Well, we have what seems here to be a level two emergency, Nurse Midorikuma (green bear).”

“Oh no!” 'Nurse Midorikuma' gasped, putting it's fuzzy stump-paws over it's equally fuzzy muzzle, “That's a _real emergency_! I should get help!” the nurse 'walked' out, nearly closing the door behind it. She had to take a moment to compose herself. The boy's crying had lessened, though it hadn't stopped completely and a silly smile wasn't what she needed at this time. Their little 'routine' always cracked her up, at least a little, even if it only worked on a handful of the younger patients that came through the clinic. A level two though, not only meant that things were beyond her father being able to handle by himself, but that he thought that her 'special talent' would be useful. A level three meant that both her and Karin were needed and a level four meant pulling out the big guns and bringing Onii-chan down to deal with an unruly patient that wasn't cooperating with treatment. One, on the other hand, pretty much meant a little bit of aftercare while Isshin went to get something, not wanting to leave the patient by themselves for one reason or another.

Giving a brief knock, Yuzu herself slipped into the room, quickly taking stock of what she couldn't from the crack in the door. She spotted a tray that had more than one needle on it, waiting to be used. Ah, that's what the screaming was about. “Hello,” She addressed the toddler, holding up Midorikuma, “I'm really new here, and I'm really scared, can you give me a hug?” 'Midorikuma' spoke, dancing around easily within the toddler's reach, only to receive a glare that would make her big brother proud and the toddler crossed his arms, turning away. “Aww. But I'm really scared. Can you tell me what you're scared of?” The boy didn't respond, but his eyes flicked over to her father's direction. Ah. “Do you…” 'Midorikuma' pouted while Yuzu turned so that her father was completely out of the boy's range of vision. Isshin, knowing what was happening, gave the confused mother a subtle thumbs-up, but otherwise stayed perfectly still. “Do you think that Mommy-san can give me a hug instead? Since I'm really, really scared too.”

It took a couple moments, but the boy nodded. His mother looked like she really did need a hug as she took the stuffed bear. “Hey,” Yuzu said in her normal voice, though a bit lowered, “Do you want to play a game instead? I know a good one that makes everything bad go away.” She smiled, pulling the hand-rattle from her pocket and shook it a few times while she held it in her fist. It was shaped like an oblong rock and about the size of the boy's fist. It was made from stiffened leather with thick stitching running all along the sides for grip. “It's called the noisy game. And with this rattle,” She gave it a few more shakes, “It can make all the scary things go away. Do you want to give it a try?” The boy looked interested. At the very least his screams had reduced down to hiccups. This time when she held out the toy, the boy grabbed it and started to shake it with everything he had. She had a feeling it was more for the racket that the toy made than to scare away any bad things. Though, with a racket like that, it would certainly do the job!

Pulling out her rain stick, she gently tipped it to one side, creating a trickling sound. “Do you mind if I join you?” She asked, keeping her voice level and quiet, but somehow managing to capture the boy's attention anyway. For the next few minutes, Yuzu and the boy 'played' with their rattles. She kept the trickle from her rain-stick steady, staring into the boy's eyes as they slowly drooped. “Good...” Yuzu murmured, turning the stick to start again, “See, it's not so scary, is it?” Slowly, the boy's eyes drooped and the vigorous shaking of the rattle started to slow.

Risking a flick of her eyes over to her father, she gave a small nod, immediately going back to the boy's eyes. “Now, can you close your eyes for me?” She murmured, her voice blending in with the stick and, whether the boy meant to or not, he closed his eyes and slumped to one side, the rattle falling from his limp grasp. “Good boy.” Turning, she gave the mother a reassuring smile and tilted the rain-stick again, catching her eyes. “Everything is ok.” While Yuzu spun a tale about sailboats and blue skies, Isshin quickly did all the shots that the boy needed. Two in one thigh, and one in the other. It was no wonder the boy was so panicked. Even with how good her father was, three shots at once was scary!

Holding up a selection of band-aids toward the mother, she quickly chose two Sgt. Frog ones with different poses and a Doraemon that was grinning. He put them on and then gave each of the boy's legs a quick massage, making sure that the medicine didn't bubble in one spot and become painful before giving Yuzu a nod. The girl nodded back and leaned forward with a smile. “Can you come back to me?” she asked. “Come back from your trip, because your Mommy-san really misses you, in Three… two...” The touched the boy's nose with a fingertip, startling him awake. “Hello sleepyhead!” Yuzu chirped, standing back and dramatically looking around, “See, all the scary things are gone, you did it!” She cheered, making sure the boy look around himself. Indeed, the needles had been tossed into the hazard bin and everything else indicating the procedure had been swiped away. Her father had even rolled the boy's pant legs back down.

“Thank you for your help, Nurse Yuzu.” Her father said, giving her a proud smile that she absolutely thrived under. “I think we're done with everything today.”

“Ok.” Yuzu nodded, tucking away her rain-stick and turning to leave. She was positive that her father could somehow manage to wrangle the rattle away from the toddler. Let him be the bad guy. And if he didn't, well, it wasn't the first one that she had lost. Leaving the office door cracked a bit as she put her uniform and tools away, she was able to hear the mother as she and her father hashed out some final details. She was surprised, but not too much so, when the mother brought up that she had never thought to hypnotize children to help with medical procedures. Isshin replied that it was usually kept as a last resort and that Yuzu really was the best when it came to dealing with patients.

“Again, thank you. I think we might come back next time we need to see a doctor. I'm glad that the other clinic was full and sent us over. You and your daughter are wonderful.”

“It was lucky, wasn't it? I hope that the travel time wasn't too much of an inconvenience. I hope you do think of us next time, but that you won't need to see us any time soon! Here, don't forget to take a card.” The conversation quickly devolved into a series of goodbyes and by the time Yuzu finished folding and tucking her uniform away, Isshin had flipped the sign and locked the door, more than ready for dinner. “Yuzu-chan!” He glomped his youngest, “You did so good with Kotaro-chan and his mommy back there! Now, it's time for dinner, isn't it? I'm starving!”

“Hai, it'll be ready in a few minutes. Can you get Karin-chan and Onii-chan?” She asked, drifting into the kitchen before remembering something. “Oh… Daddy? Onii-chan was… fuzzy, when I saw him last. And wearing that black uniform that he was wearing that one time we went to the fireworks.”

Isshin nodded in understanding, heading upstairs to wrangle his other two. Now, if only he could convince Rukia-chan and Shiro-chan to come visit, then he would have all his kids under one roof. Though… he should probably invite Tatsuki-chan for that. And Ichigo's other friends, if he wanted to be broad about the subject. At the top of the stairs, he decided to get Karin first. He had learned, through the grief of all three of his biological children, to wait at least a few seconds after knocking before bursting into the twins' room. “Karin-chan! It's almost dinner time!” He did a little twist, acting as theatrical as he could, just for his middle child to practically ignore him as she flipped through a textbook, her hand posed to write something. “Ka-chan! Di-Urk!”

“I heard you the first time, old man.” She had chucked a paperweight, clipping him in the ear. “Ugh, I'm going to have to ask Ichi-nii about this question.” She muttered, flipping between two pages and still not getting the answer that she was looking for.

“Here, let me look at tha-” Prancing over, Isshin looked over her shoulder, blinked and tilted his head in confusion. Was that even in Japanese? “Have your brother look at that. He has a better memory for that type of thing. Or, at least, a more recent ones.” Giving up on her math problem, she looked up and gave her father a 'no duh' look as she slammed her book closed with some finality.

“I was nearly done anyway.” She stated, standing up and pushing past her father. “I'll ask Ichi-nii to check my work after dinner.” Having had her say, she went downstairs to set the table.

“Mou,” Isshin pouted to himself, missing the days when his children actually _respected_ him. They truly were growing up. It was times like this when he wished that he would have raised the in the spirit world, if only to hold on to their childhoods just that much longer. But then they wouldn't be where they were right now, and that would be just as bad. Crossing the hall, Isshin didn't bother knocking on his son's door, sensing that he had arrived home earlier. Taking a breath and bouncing a little, he hyped himself up enough to paste a large grin across his mug and kicked the door open. “Dinner ti-ime!” Was his dinner cry as he lunged for his son, who promptly ducked and retaliated, tossing him out of the window. Unseen by his son, he managed to flip himself upright before landing on the front lawn. “Good shot!” He shot his son's window a thumbs-up before scrambling back up to perch on the windowsill. “I-Chi...” His son turned, giving him a downright pissed glare. “Go?”

Without a word, Ichigo moved back to his gigai and slipped inside, somewhat muffling his hostile aura before turning to leave back downstairs. “Ah.” Isshin murmured, slipping in the rest of the way and looked around the room for clues about his eldest's sour mood. There, sitting innocuously on his desk, was a letter with somewhat familiar handwriting. He didn't have to read his son's mail to know, at least vaguely, what had turned his mood. It wasn't the first letter he had gotten from _them_ , and it likely wasn't going to be the last, either. And it always turned Ichigo's mood for the worst. Quietly, he followed downstairs and sat at the head of the table. Ichigo would make his announcements concerning the letter sooner or later, and until then, he had learned to just let the boy sulk in his own way.

Sensing the mood in the room, dinner was mostly silent. That was, until Karin cracked and decided to break the silence. “Ichi-nii?”

“Yeah?” Her brother replied, a bite of rice halfway to his lips and a carefully neutral expression on his face.

“Could you,” she marched bravely ahead, undaunted, but not encouraged either, “check my homework after dinner? I'm having some issues with one of the problems.”

Ichigo nodded, taking a his bite. “Sure. Yuzu, do you want me to look over yours too? Do you have any problems either?”

“Yes, thank you Onii-chan.” Yuzu tried to smile, but the atmosphere squashed it a bit. “That would be nice.”

Ichigo nodded.

A beat.

Finishing off his last bite, Ichigo carefully replaced his chopsticks and stacked his dishes to be washed. Not looking up, he spoke. “I got a letter from Uncle Nagare today.” The only one who hadn't known was Karin, but none of the Kurosakis said anything, knowing Ichigo would continue on his own time. “He… requested… that I spend new years at the house.” They knew that it wasn't so much a request, as a demand. The family home rarely had reason to contact them, but when they did, it generally wasn't over simple pleasantries, nor able to be ignored. Thankfully, at least in Ichigo's mind, the main house never bothered with his father or sisters.

“I'll make excuses for you at school.” Isshin said, keeping an even tone (his 'Taicho' voice, his kids were slowly realizing). Ichigo nodded in thanks, already knowing that it was his responsibility to make excuses for himself with his friends, work and Soul Society.

“How long will you be gone this time, Onii-chan?” Yuzu asked, quietly pulling dishes to take into the kitchen, having lost her appetite, even with only having a few bites remaining.

Managing a small smile, Ichigo was able to give his family a small amount of reassurance. “Only about a week this time. Though, I might do some visiting since I'll be on that side of Tokyo.” Isshin nodded, not expecting any different. There were times when it was difficult for Ichigo and he had to get out of Karakura before he broke. Through some old connections of his mother's, Ichigo had connected with an old family friend that often took him in and didn't ask questions. He had spent a lot of time with them the past few years, especially after Masaki had… passed, and again after losing his powers for nearly two years.

“Don't forget to bring them enough sweet rolls this time.” Isshin stated and that was that. Without a lot of grief from his family and his wife's family, that was pretty much all he could say. And visiting his friends in Tokyo? He would have brought up the idea himself if Ichigo hadn't. There was a wonderful place for him to decompress without having to deal with his responsibilities before he had to return. Plus, his Tokyo friends were the type that could take one of his son's punches and give back twice as hard, if needed. Sometimes, he was honestly amazed that his son was able to find friends in the _strangest_ places. “I would suggest telling your friends sooner, rather than later.”

“I was planning on telling them tomorrow at school, then spending some time at Urahara's after.” Ichigo told his father, who read the words that he would be spending at least a few hours in Soul Society, at least to give them a heads-up on his future whereabouts. Last time that Ichigo had decided to go traveling, Isshin had been on the receiving end of a royal snit from Yama-jiji for moving around without approval, thusly dropping off their radar because he had left his 'useless' badge behind. Of which Isshin had gleefully passed on the message to Ichigo when he returned from his trip. Isshin couldn't help when a small smile appeared at the memory. Oh, wasn't it a photo-worthy expression on his face when Ichigo realized that Soul Society hadn't just outright forgotten him, even when they were being idiots and leaving him on his own.

Though, Isshin had to sigh this time, maybe that was his fault. Nearly dying, Ichigo being in a coma for a month, Isshin had warned off the shinigami and others to leave his son alone until he adjusted. Well, it seemed like they had taken his warning a little too close to heart and practically dropped Ichigo like a hot potato. Thankfully, his human friends still kept an eye on him when they could, of which he was more than thankful. Still, it was difficult though. More often than not, Ichigo had just… taken off, just to find out that his son was on the other side of Tokyo when he returned on Monday, just in time for school. And when he returned, more than once, it looked like he had gone through the wringer.

Finishing his dinner, he helped Yuzu bring the rest of the dishes back to the kitchen to be washed. With only a minimal fuss, he waved his youngest off to have homework time with her siblings. While he was virtually helpless when it came to actually cooking anything (like most shinigami, if he was honest), he could handle successfully packing away the leftovers and washing the dishes.

* * *

The next day, Ichigo suppressed a yawn, sliding open the front door of a small two-story house that sat by the outer edge of the Thirteenth Division's grounds. While it was easily accessible to the main roads and the other divisions, it was its own little plot of land, complete with a back garden that, while a decent size, wasn't visible from the front. Ukitake-taicho had surprised him with it not even two weeks ago, saying that it was all his to play with. Unfortunately, at the moment, the entire house was practically empty, save for a full-size taicho desk in the front 'receiving/business' area and a few futons tucked into a back corner of one of the upstairs rooms. Even the kitchen (at least there was one) was bare of everything. The only reason he had even bothered to stop by the small building was because of the small innocuous stack of paperwork that was sitting neatly in the middle of the desk. That, Ichigo was positive, hadn't been there on Sunday. While he wasn't too surprised, he had still hoped that there wouldn't be any.

Walking over, he grabbed the stack of papers and sat down on the floor (He didn't even have a chair yet!), intending to look over what had been dropped off. Requisition forms (useful), a budget report (he had practically none), reports (From who? ... _Oh_. Kami, give him strength, that _might_ be Hiyori's handwriting.) and some other various forms that he needed to fill out. On top of it all was a helpful note from Ukitake-taicho, saying that he could use Rukia to help him get started (with her permission) and, if he had any questions (a big 'no duh' there), to not be afraid to come over and ask. Or come over period, for dinner or even just to have some company. Ichigo couldn't help but to smile. He had just that intention in mind, anyway; at least until he had some personality (and a chair!) in his brand-spanking-new home-away-from-home.

Looking in the desk drawers, he noticed that, while there was a 'welcome to your new office!' bottle of sake in the bottom left drawer, there were no pens. Or brushes. He would have even taken a pencil at that point. Nodding to himself, he realized with a touch of resignation, that he would have to go over and ask Ukitake-taicho for help even with his beginner forms. There went his plans to at least attempting to have a head-start before giving in and calling in the cavalry. Well, there was no time like the present, apparently, as Ichigo turned around and left the house, tucking the forms into the front of his uniform and jumping the fence into the thirteenth division.

He was greeted with a somewhat-surprised look from Rukia when he casually knocked on the door frame and called out a greeting. “Ichigo! We weren't expecting you until Friday!”

“Yeah… about that...” Ichigo grimaced, not wanting to really say anything, since it was his business, “I'm going to be gone the next two weekends, so I figured I'd get a head start on this before I head out.” He said, holding up the forms, now all folded crisply in half from when he tucked them into his kosode.

“Oh?” Ukitake looked up with interest, “Going on a trip?”

“You could say that.” Ichigo said reluctantly, moving into the room, “I'm going to visit my family's house for the New Year.”

“That sounds pleasant, is your whole family going?” The captain asked innocently with a happy smile.

Rukia, on the other hand was a bit more confused and was more than willing to admit it, “You have a second house?”

“No,” Ichigo said in response to both questions, “It's mom's older brother and he probably wants to talk about my heir-ship again. Dad and the girls are staying in Karakura, but I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to visit Mom while I'm gone.”

Rukia started choking on air, while Ukitake just blinked in surprise, “You, an _heir_?” Rukia sputtered, groping for her tea so that she could breathe again.

Ichigo shrugged nonchalantly, intentionally slumping a little, “Yeah, surprised?” He asked defensively, “The Kurosakis are actually a really old samurai family, so it's not that big of a deal.” Honestly, he would rather leave the heir-ship to someone else, but unfortunately the direct heir had died a few years previous and his uncle hadn't had any more viable children. And his second uncle… That was the one thing that Uncle Nagare and he agreed on. Iwao-jii was crazy and just... No.

“ _Not that big of a deal he says_ ,” Rukia muttered mutinously, quaffing the last of her tea before going to get more and downing that cup too in a sulk, “ _It's only being his family's heir.”_ Well, it was a big deal to her! It had been a major fuss when Byakuya-nii had finally named her as his heir, despite the elder's objections. And even then, she was only heir until 'someone more suited to the Kuchiki name' came along.

“Well,” Ukitake offered up with a welcoming smile, “may I be the first to congratulate you then?”

“If you want to.” Ichigo shrugged, waving his folded paperwork as a visual reminder, stepping further into the room. “Do you think I can borrow a pen or something in the meanwhile?”

Nodding easily, Ukitake pulled out a spare brush, ink-stone and handed over his ink-stick, “There's an extra zaisu in the storage room, if you want, next to the rest of the zabuton. We may be here for a while.” Giving his stack a dubious look, Ichigo decided to defer to the senior captain's judgment and grabbed a particularly over-stuffed floor cushion and the extra floor chair from the storage room. He doubted that a few measly forms would take long, but he would soon learn.

“As long as I'm able to get my homework done tonight too. I can just take the rest of this home and ask Dad if I have any questions if it gets too late.” Ichigo didn't notice Ukitake's expression, as if he was a small child that had said something amusing, but didn't want to laugh and ruin his fantasies. “Or… not.” Apparently Ichigo had seen the expression anyway. “If dad's anything like he is with the clinic paperwork.”

“Then it would be best to save any questions until next time you are able to come to me or any of the other active taicho, yes.” Ukitake interjected politely, getting a small nod from Ichigo. “Now, which one should we start with?”

Starting at the top, Ichigo handed over the requisition forms, “Ah, yes, if I recall, you don't really have much yet, do you? Could I see what your budget...” Ichigo handed over his budget report without a word, making Ukitake gape for a moment before he wrangled his expression back to neutral. “How about I ask around for you? I'm sure that between all of us Taicho, we can cobble together something a bit more livable for you to use. I'll bring it up during the next regular meeting.”

“That bad, huh?” Ichigo asked with a wry look. “I'm planning to bring some stuff from home, but I wouldn't say no to some help in the meanwhile.”

“You could, hmm… buy a nice wall scroll for the front office? Or maybe a tea service?”

“I was actually just thinking of buying some kitchen essentials, since I'll be staying there during the weekends. Like Rice and flour. And in the meanwhile I can steal some pots from Yuzu until I can get my own.” It almost reminded him of tentative plans that he had about moving out of the clinic after high school. Starting from nothing and working his way up. “And I prefer to make my own wall scrolls anyway.” He stated, not really meaning anything by it. Taking up the ink stick and stone, Ichigo absently worked up enough ink for himself to make notes on a spare sheet of paper. _Ink, brush, pen, scissors, find paper-maker shop, flour, rice, futon covers…_ He wrote in a delicate script that wasn't quite the standard kanji, but wasn't quite any style of grass script that Ukitake had seen before.

“You have beautiful handwriting, Kurosaki-kun.” Ukitake murmured, nearly mesmerized as Ichigo continued his list. The last time he had seen such art in even just notes was Byakuya. “I thought calligraphy was becoming a lost art in your generation.” His generation, as in including most of the lieutenants, not just the children from the human world.

Ichigo shrugged, starting to flip through his other paperwork to get ideas to add to his list. “It mostly is. I actually prefer using a western calligraphy pen, but I didn't think to bring anything. Honestly,” He looked up, “I didn't think I was going to walk in to a stack of paperwork when I came in today.” Not able to think of much else to write on his list at the moment, he put the lid over the ink stone to keep the ink he ground fresh and rinsed out his brush, setting it aside. “Now, why the hell is-” He picked up the chicken-scratch report and flipped to the last page, “Hiyori writing me a repor… oh.” His eyes scanned the page, picking out words like 'idiot' 'shoulda ducked' 'stupid Shinji' and 'fourth division'. “I know what this is about. Why did this come to me though?” He asked himself with just the barest hint of a whine.

Ukitake just gave him a sympathetic smile, like he had heard the same exact thing from every captain that had ever come and gone in their own time, which he had. “Because, baka,” Rukia answered his mutterings from her desk across the room, “apparently the Visored are _your_ responsibility.”

“...Oh.” Not saying much more, he attempted to plow through the actual report, leaning against the back of his zaisu in preparation for a long, difficult read. _Filing cabinet_ was soon added to his list, along with _some sort of e-reader. Make chicken-scratchers type reports instead of writing them. For the love of god and my sanity._ Apparently, the report was Shinji's side of the story and, since it correlated with what the Blonde captain had said nearly a month ago in the hospital, he simply signed off on it and stuck the report into Ukitake's done pile to get a copy filed in the first division.

Flipping through the rest of the paperwork, he spotted a few requests (Huh, he didn't think there was anyone that would need his permission…?) and quickly red through those as well. With only a small note, printed in standard Kantian this time, saying that illegible handwriting would be thrown out the window next time, he passed the requests without bothering to do more than glance at the names. They were simple requests anyway. Training and such, and one travel permit. Strange, though. He had thought that the Visoreds had a free pass between the two worlds, now that the war was over and half of them had returned to Seireitei. Especially since his friends, who were human, had free passes themselves. Shrugging, he moved on. He assumed it was just more paperwork to make sure that people knew where 'dangerous' individuals were at all times.

Looking up for a moment, Ichigo grimaced when he noticed that the sun was starting to set. “Ah, shit.” Ichigo mumbled, realizing how late it was as he gathered up his paperwork (keeping his thumb between the 'done' and 'not done' piles) and stood up, intending to clean up his borrowed equipment.

A pale hand stayed him as he reached for the ink-stone with the intention to dump out the unused portion and clean it for storage. “If you need to leave, Kurosaki-kun, you just needed to say so. I can take the rest of your ink and clean the stone up later. I was running low on my own anyway.”

“Oh...” Sometimes Ukitake's kindness still caught him blindsided. “Thank you. Should I put the Zaisu and Zabuton away for you?”

Ukitake shook his head, pulling Ichigo's borrowed supplies toward himself, “You can put them in the corner, if you wish. So that you won't have to pull them out of storage next time you come by.” Even though that wouldn't be for the next two weeks, Ichigo nodded his thanks anyway and did as he was told.

“And...” He held up the paperwork.

“Take what you can work on. You can leaved your finished ones with me and I can have Rukia-chan deal with them when she does mine.” Ichigo looked over at the Lieutenant and she nodded her head, not minding the few extra pieces of paper in her pile.

“Thanks.” Ichigo nodded, tucking his greatly-diminished pile into his shirt front. “Then I'll see you around then…?”

“I'll pass around the message if anyone asks.”

“Thanks.” And with that, Ichigo sprinted for the Senkaimon. On the other side, Ichigo poked around the shoten, intending to find its shopkeeper and/or his body. “Geta-boshi?” He called, peeking into the lab and not seeing much beyond the darkness. “I'm back!”

“Ah, Ichigo!” Urahara's voice floated out from the darkness, “just give me a moment and I'll be right out.” The lab wasn't actually dark, but Tessai put a fogging kido spell just on the inside of the door, making it impossible to look in by the casual passer-by, but easy to look out into the hallway. Like a one-sided mirror. Not wanting to wait, Ichigo stepped inside the lab instead, not prepared to see what Urahara was actually doing.

“What the hell?” He knew his body was a gigai and all and that it was starting to break down, needing frequent maintenance, but even knowing that hadn't prepared him to see Urahara elbow-deep in his carcass.

“Ah, yes, I suppose it is a bit disconcerting, seeing something like this the first time,” Urahara spoke, all the while wrenching something with a sickening _crack_ in his chest cavity. Ichigo could feel the phantom pain in his chest just watching Urahara do his thing. “Hmm…” Urahara looked at the gigai, debating something. “I think it may be at least another hour, _or two_ ,” he coughed under his breath, “before this will be ready to be used. You don't mind now, do you? I'm sure you can think of at least a few things to do during the wait.”

“Uh… yeah.” Ichigo looked ready to leave, turning a faint tinge of green. Even growing up in a clinic, there were still some things that he was squeamish about. Seeing his own body on a slab? Apparently that was one of them. “I still have some reports to work on, and homework to finish. I'll… just go… now.” He barely waited for Urahara's absent wave (Ugh, was that his _blood_ on Urahara's hand?) before slipping out the door and to the dining room, picking up his backpack along the way. “Hey Yoruichi.” he greeted, seeing her lounging on one of the over-stuffed cushions shoved in a corner.

“You're back early.” She replied in her masculine cat voice. “Kisuke's not done yet.”

“Yeah, I… saw that already.” He sat at the table pulling out the paperwork and setting it to one side before pulling out his textbook and worksheet, intending to work on his homework first, then go back to the reports. The end of the semester testing was giving him a headache and he couldn't wait to get them over with. Except then that would mean it was time to go visit his uncle in Kamakura and… Ugh. He'd rather be dealing with the tests than that.

“Oh-ho?” She gave a little cat-smirk, slinking up to the table and rubbing against Ichigo's leg. Without any real conscious thought, he started petting her head with his left, propping his head up with his right as he stared at the textbook. “You went into his lab while he was working on your gigai, didn't you? It's not something for the faint of heart.”

Ichigo shook his head, not even wanting to think about it, even as his hand started wandering around, scratching Yoruichi wherever she moved to. Eventually, she flopped to her side, inviting him to rub her belly, which he did without acknowledging her movements. Normally, at this point, he would realize that she wasn't a normal house-cat and stop, sputtering some nonsense about harassment and not wanting to get arrested for touching a woman ' _there_ '. And he usually had the cutest blushes while he was backing away too. “Hey… Yoruichi…?” Ichigo muttered, making her look up and realize that he was watching her out of the corner of his eyes, but kept his face pointed toward his book. “I've been wondering something for a while now.” He flipped a page, “But I keep forgetting to ask, or we're too busy doing something else,” he flipped the page back and he made a note on his homework.

“Hmm?” Well, he definitely had her attention now, even if he was pretending to not watch her every move. Rolling back to her feet, she propped her front paws on the table to give Ichigo a closer look.

“I just...” Yoruichi moved closer, not expecting the gusty sigh that ruffled her ears as he intentionally turned away from his books to look her head-on. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?” She decided to be obtuse, wanting Ichigo to ask correctly.

“That.” He murmured, waving his hands at her body. Reluctantly, he spoke again. “Changing into a cat. I've never seen any other Shinigami do it, so is it a special technique or a family thing… or is it just a you thing?”

“Hmm.” She hummed, delaying her answer by hopping up on the table and sitting, demurely wrapping her tail around her paws. “I supposed it would be more of a me thing. Though Sajin does have something similar, from what I hear. He doesn't use it much.

_Sajin_ , he had to think for a moment where he had heard that name before, _was the wolf-faced captain_ _of squad seven_. “Oh.” And that was that. Ichigo looked back at his homework and started working on the next problem. He knew, from the few times that Ichigo had spoken to the man, that a wolf was his natural form. So… That would mean that Yoruichi was originally a cat.

“But!” She walked closer, promptly sitting on his worksheet, not liking the immediate dismissal of the subject. If wasn't like Ichigo to give up, even with the supposed 'impossible', “It took me years of training myself before I could do so. It's like bankai in a way. Theoretically, everyone could do it, but ultimately not many have the patience to try. If you did try, I would not be surprised if you were eventually successful.”

Taking his time to think, Ichigo carefully extracted his worksheet out from under Yoruichi's butt and used the page as a bookmark before sliding his book away. “So… if I were to try then… what? How would I go about doing that? And if it's like Komamura-taicho… then you were a cat first.”

“No, I was definitely human first. That's where our major differences lay. That, and I believe that he isn't able to freely transform into a fully human shape.” Humming in amused thought, Yoruichi tilted her head and tried to think of the best way to describe what she did, oh, it seemed so long ago. “First, and I think the biggest part about transforming, is trying to figure out what type of animal to attempt to turn into. It was almost like, hmm, like trying to talk to your zanpakutou spirit the first time. You know it's there, but you can't see or hear it at first.” She found that she had closed her eyes, lost in trying to vocalize what she knew instinctively. “But at the same time, it's nothing like your zanpakutou. It's completely different. Sometimes talking to others, or analyzing your own natural movements, or even flipping through a book of animals could help. And eventually… you just… know.”

“And then what?” he asked, reaching out to scratch at her ears as she laid down in a sphinx position.

“Then?” Yoruichi shrugged, “Instinct, I suppose. I can't really describe what happened. One day I was a human, training in the back field of our family compound, and the next thing I remember was opening my eyes almost a week and a half later and looking a _long_ way up at Yushiro.” She chuckled at the memory, “re-learning how to walk was a pain, but surprisingly learning how to change back after the first time was relatively easy.” Seeing Ichigo's confused expression, Yoruichi expanded, “Yushiro is my little brother, and currently the head of the Shihoin clan since I left.”

“I didn't know you had a brother.” _Or family, for that matter_.

“You didn't ask. Just like you didn't ask about my transformations.” Ichigo nodded. There really hadn't been time before to ask. And after a while, it just didn't seem important enough to actually bring up. It made him wonder, though, about Geta-boshi and Tessai, and if they had left anyone behind either.

“So…” Ichigo absently tapped his pencil on the table, “That's it then, instinct?”

“Mostly, yes.” Yoruichi nodded, curling her front paws up under her body into a loaf position. “One thing, though, that I realize, looking back, is that after a successful transformation, your form is never quite one-hundred percent human again. My nails are much tougher and I have to be careful to file them dull, otherwise they'll start growing into claw tips. And my eyes used to be, hmm… a few shades lighter than Rukia-chan's.” As long as he had known her, Yoruichi had bright cat-yellow eyes.

Well, that wouldn't be so bad, Ichigo mused, as long as he didn't have some unusual animal eye like a lizard or something. “...Hey, Yoruichi…?” He asked not wanting to ask, but needing the answer anyway. “Do you think… having a hollow form would affect having an animal form?”

“Perhaps.” She saw the boy pale, but didn't want to discourage him, “but then again, you've always been a unique case. Being human first, and even if you were born a soul, you are still growing into yourself, and it'll be quite a while before anything concerning you will be concrete. That's why you have such a high learning curve, or at least part of the reason, is that youthful adaptability of yours. Sure, your inner hollow might have some say in the matter, but I'm positive that he won't have final say. It's like… remember that book series that you liked when you were younger, about those… demons, I believe, that kept changing animal shape until their human partner matured?”

“Daemons.” Ichigo corrected, blushing. He had been obsessed with the His Dark Materials series when he was younger, always imagining that he had a daemon by his side, always wondering what form it would settle in to. Sometimes, though he realized it was only his imagination now, he imagined animal noises responding to his thoughts. Sometimes it was a tweet, or a hiss, sometimes he could even make out words. Now, while he knew for a fact that Daemons (in the book series sense) didn't exist, he did have his zanpakutou and hollow spirits that acted in part the same way. It had been pointed out to him, he couldn't remember by who, that while his inner hollow remained an exact negative copy of himself, that his mask kept changing, almost with every time he pulled it out to use. He could only imagine now, what that mask looked like. He had noticed, though, that none of the other Visored's masks ever changed. So that would make sense, that he wasn't even quite 'settled' into what his true hollow form looked like. Did that mean…

' _No_ ,' Zangetsu interjected, feeling the spiral of Ichigo's emotions as a turbulent wind twisting through the skyscrapers. ' _I am as settled as I will ever be. You have not learned all the abilities that I possess, true, but I, myself, will remain the same.'_

' _Oh. Good._ ' Ichigo couldn't help but to give a small sigh of relief. So many other things changed in his life, it was good to see that at least the old man would be a constant presence in his life.

“Daemons. Right.” Yoruichi shook her head. Children's culture seemed to move so quickly these days. “I would imagine that you're much like the children in the series, always changing from one form to the next. It's part of your unpredictability that makes you so powerful. Beyond the natural amount of spiritual pressure you normally exude. And your hollow would be your demon, daemon sorry, that is constantly changing, reflecting your true self on the inside. I would imagine, especially while you're still in your human body, that things like this will keep changing for a while yet. While it'll be hard, you can start meditating on what animal you would like to transform into. At the very least,” she mused, “You'll be able to knock the 'definitely not' animals from your list.”

“Lizard's out. Most amphibians. Fish… would suck.” Ichigo started thinking, absently doodling and setting his mind back into that head-space that occupied the fantasy world of daemons. “Birds would be fun, but I think keeping my feet on the ground would be better...” He paid absolutely no attention to what he was drawing as he thought, caught up in his thoughts as he was. Homework… he could easily finish it at home or before class the next day. He wasn't in the mood for studying anyway. And this was a light enough topic that he used it to drown out his thoughts about his upcoming trip.

Yoruichi didn't mind being stared at, especially with the dreamy thoughtful eyes that Ichigo so rarely had these days. They were intense, usually, with strong emotions and even stronger conviction behind them. This, was the dreamer that existed before the sun of his life had been taken by a hollow. She didn't mind as his fingers first traced her ears, then her cheek and jaw as he continued to sketch. She was more than happy to sit still and do whatever he wished. He wouldn't pull her tail like this, like he had when he had that nightmare during Rukia's rescue. Thinking back, he still hadn't told her what the dream was about. He had only said that he never remembered his dreams. That was a lie. She could see it as clear in his eyes like she could see nearly everything else. It was only when they were clouded that she would ever worry about the boy.

Casually standing up, she walked over and rubbed under her godson's chin, stealing a casual look at what he was drawing. _Oh_ , her eyes widened, maybe he wasn't so far behind in the process after all. The drawing was beautiful, if not a bit strange in places. What looked like skyscrapers towered over a small copse of bamboo and trees. In one corner, there was a pond that… looked sinister, for a lack of any other words. In the center, drawn the clearest out of all the other sketches, was a cat form. It was… different from her form, but she could see where he had used her for a model. It, also, was the most incomplete of all the sketches. It wasn't for Ichigo's lack of trying or talent, but his hand kept sliding away from its form, drawing details on a tree here, or what looked like a lopsided flagpole on one of the skyscrapers.

After a while, Ichigo blinked and looked down at his art. Scowling, he drew a huge crescent moon in one of the last free spaces and hung a grass-script word off the tip. Pushing the page away, he pulled his homework closer. Maybe it was better to finish his work now and leave dreaming for sleeping.

Looking between Ichigo and his art, Yoruichi saw that his eyes were clouded in frustration. It was better, she learned, to leave it alone. On the page, only the animal, whom she assumed was some sort of cat, remained near-blank. There were small details, like a long, thin tail, large paws and rounded ear tips, but that was really it. Its body had been drawn, re-drawn and erased so many times, that she couldn't make out anything in the smudges. “Don't push yourself.” She murmured, pressing her face into his cheek, “you have no need to rush in this. Being able to transform is just for you, nothing else.”

It took a moment, but he eventually released himself and nodded, agreeing with the statement if not the sentiment “Yeah.”

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be my last un-edited chapter. Yay for the sake of my writing. Boo that it will now take a bit longer between chapters. I'm going to try to get one out every week to two weeks, but... I honestly cannot make any promises. This month, though, will be going back through chapters 4-now and fixing things, taking some things out and adding entire scenes that somehow got misplaced in the rush. Like Shirtless!Ichigo and Toushiro vs. Isshin and one of Isshin's secrets. Yeah...

According to his watch, the train was late. Though, knowing the trains, it really meant that his watch was off. Still, either way. Trains.

He had no complaints about the transportation method itself, but a good nine times out of ten, getting on a train only had unpleasant destinations in store. Then again, he could likely use the senkaimon to get himself to Kamakura with nobody being the wiser, or get someone to drive him… Tessai had a van, if he remembered correctly, that he used to pick up supplies and run deliveries. But then he'd have to deal with awkward questions with one and leaving his body behind with the other. Actually… there would be awkward questions using either method. So, in the end, trains it was.

He had already bought his tickets the previous day, making sure that he had a return ticket, so that if his uncle tried to keep him longer, it was an excuse to leave. Though, what his uncle wouldn't know was that the ticket wasn't going all the way back to Karakura in one shot. And what his uncle didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

“Yo, Ichigo, the train here yet?” The voice, he knew that voice. Turning around, already with an annoyed expression plastered across his face, he gave his oldest friend a look. Though, what he didn't expect was for Rukia to be standing right next to her, wearing a cute bunny hoodie sweater and little more to guard against the cold.

“What the hell are you doing here? You're going to get frostbite.” He grumbled, addressing the both of them. It was the end of December, for Pete's sake, and there was snow on the ground.

“What do you think, baka?” Tatsuki asked right back, hefting her rucksack, “I told you already, I'm not going to be left behind on your next little adventure, powers or not.” She moved toward him, holding an old-fashioned bentou wrapped in a kerchief up. “Besides, it's not like it's the first time I've come with you to Kamakura. Oh, and you forgot your lunch.” Said lunch, was easily enough to feed the three of them. Sighing, he decided not to tell her that he had already bought a convenience store bentou not fifteen minutes earlier.

“And you?” Ichigo turned to Rukia, already knowing that it would be impossible to shake either girl once they got on the train. “You know I'm not paying for you.”

“I'm here to supervise you.” A white cloud of steam puffed from behind Rukia's scarf, “Ukitake-taicho thought it would be best if I went, instead of just sending one of the lower seats to tail you.”

“Yeah, ok.” He could see how that made sense. But still, he didn't need a spiritual babysitter. “I'm just telling you now, you're going to turn into an icicle by the time we get there. It's a bit of a hike once we leave the station and, according to the reports, there's a good couple of inches of snow that fell a few days ago.” Finally, their train pulled up and they climbed inside, managing to secure a trio of seats right next to each other, so that they could continue talking.

“You forget something, Ichigo.” Rukia gave him a dry look, “That Sode no Shira _yuki_ is an _ice_ zanpakutou.”

“I didn't forget. It's just that I don't think your gigai is as resistant to frostbite as _you_ are. I don't want to have to carry you the rest of the way because your toes started turning blue. And then _you'd_ have to explain to Urahara how you managed to damage his gigai.” Ichigo crossed his arms with a superior smirk, leaning in to look at Rukia in the face. After a moment, he leaned back and pulled out folding lap desk and a folder with paper strips tucked in one side and paper squares in the other.

“I am not going to freeze. You're delusional.” Rukia scoffed, crossing her arms as well, ready to start an argument. But instead, curiosity got the better of her when Ichigo pulled out a square of paper and uncapped what looked like a fountain pen. “Just what _are_ you doing now?”

“Hmm? This?” He murmured, almost to himself as he tucked away the folder for now and started writing in the loose, flowing grass script that she had seen yesterday along the four edges. “If you're going to follow me, you're going to need some protection. You can deal with hollows fine, but I don't know about the yokai and I don't want you to be caught unaware.”

“Yokai?” She scoffed, looking like she was trying not to laugh. “There's no such thing as yokai! They're children's tales, meant to scare them into behaving.” Ichigo didn't say anything, but shared a silent conversation with Tatsuki. Ichigo thrust his chin in Rukia's direction, Tatsuki shook her head. Ichigo tapped the corner of the paper he was working on, Tatsuki sighed.

“They're just as real as you are.” Tatsuki sighed, looking around and keeping her voice low. It was cold out and it was a slow time, so there weren't too many others in the car with them. “If ghosts can exist, so can yokai.”

“And ghost-yokai.” Ichigo quietly interjected, writing something in the four corners now, pointing toward the center.

“Yeah.” She agreed, suppressing a shiver. “not everything that goes bump in the night are hollows.”

“Yes, they are.” Rukia furrowed her brows. “the only real threat to humans would be hollows, generally speaking.” The two humans exchanged another look and Ichigo went back to his work. While Tatsuki had never run into this black-and-white side of Rukia before, Ichigo had. Things that she was taught in the academy was the only truth out there, and if the academy and her superior officers in the Gotei 13 said that there was no such thing as yokai, then there was no such thing as yokai.

“Where we're going.” Ichigo drew a complicated circular seal in the middle of the paper, making it look like a labyrinth surrounding two words written in grass script. 'Snow' and 'Rabbit' “Sooner or later, you're going to start believing in the impossible.” Waiting until the ink dried, he flipped it over and put one word in the middle 'Mamoru', with trailing ends of four grass script words pointing into the corner. If Rukia didn't know better, she would say that he had just signed a shortened version of his name, without the 'ichi' in 'Ichigo'.

“But that doesn't explain what you're doing.” She huffed, not liking talking about all this yokai nonsense. She had seen Ichigo, once or twice, write with that strange style, but it had always been a journal of some type. The problem was, when she went to read what he wrote, it was all gibberish to her. Sure, she could pick out the odd word, but for the most part it looked like childish scribbling. And then he had started writing in that weird style in Ukitake-taicho's office the other day, just to get a compliment on his writing! It wasn't that good. Her brother had trained her in penmanship as part of her adoption, and no matter the variety that Byakuya-nii had shown her, none of them looked even close to Ichigo's scribbles.

“I'm making a fuda for you, so you won't be caught unaware in case something decides to jump you.” He started folding the paper into an origami shape. “This one's only temporary, since I didn't know that you were coming, but it'll get the job done.”

“Wouldn't you need to make one for Tatsuki as well, seeing that she doesn't have any powers?” Rukia asked obstinately, still miffed that they wouldn't let the yokai joke go.

“Mine's right here.” She held up her red flip phone, dangling from the strap was a small temari, about the size of a marble. The string ball was brightly colored, with a blue dragon weaving around the width of it. “I've had it… Hmm...”

“A couple of years.” Ichigo mumbled, carefully folding away edges of the paper. “I should probably make you a new one soon.”

“Nah.” Tatsuki smiled, batting at the temari a bit before putting her phone away (checking if Orihime had texted her back first), “I like this one. It has character.”

“It's ugly since it was one of the first ones I made. Even Yuzu finally let me replace hers.”

“Yeah...” Tatsuki had a lopsided grin on her face as she looked out the window. “I kinda miss those cherries though. They were cute.”

“I offered to make her new cherries. She was the one that picked a strawberry.” Ichigo grumbled, flipping the paper back and forth, trying to remember where his next fold went.

“A strawberry from her Onii-chan.” Tatsuki razzed, comfortable teasing the carrot top because she knew she was one of the few people in, well, a couple worlds now, that could get away with it.

“Yeah, yeah.” Ichigo rolled his eyes and handed the paper to Rukia. “Keep this on you at all times. _Especially_ , when we're at the house.” Blinking at having the origami thrust into her hands, she looked down at it. It was a… flower? “A snowflake.” he corrected, pulling out a few strips of paper and writing on them now. Rukia hadn't realized that she had spoken aloud and blushed, putting it in her pocket instead of replying.

“So what are you doing now? Those look like some sort of seals.” She asked instead.

“Yeah, kinda. They're different than what you've probably seen before though.” he tapped one of the fuda that he was working on.

“I thought you would have finished those last night?” Tatsuki asked, carefully taking the finished ones from the lap table and holding them up so that they'd dry faster.

“Eh...” He absently scratched his cheek with the back of the fountain pen. “Most of them. I ended up getting distracted, or I would have. And I forgot some of them on my desk too, when I was packing.”

Snorting, Tatsuki shook her head, folding the freshly-dried fuda into something long, thin and pointed at one end before handing them back to Ichigo. “Ladies and gentlemen, _our hero_. So _hero_ , are we going to do the usual thing this time too?”

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, gently taking the- Rukia absently realized that they looked like arrows- fuda and tucking them into a box with about two dozen other arrow-shaped fuda. “I am. You two, on the other hand, can just go to the house and have a nice hot bath when you get there.”

“You're not getting rid of me that easily, Strawberry.” Tatsuki rolled her eyes. “I helped you last year. And the year before that, and-”

“-The year before that. I know. But it's cold this year and I can walk around myself.” Ichigo looked up long enough to give his oldest friend a sardonic smile, “ _mom_.”

“I'm telling Aunt Masaki on you!” Tatsuki reacted, pointing at Ichigo dramatically.

Just then, a chime rung overhead, gaining their attention. “Kamakura station. Next stop is Kamakura station. Have a nice day!”

“...Right.” Looking down, Ichigo hurried to pack away his supplies, tucking the paper and half-finished fuda into the folder before tucking it and the lap desk back into his bag. After debating for a moment, he handed the box of folded fuda to Tatsuki to hold on to. Feeling the train slow down, Ichigo stood up, absently steadying Rukia as they moved toward the doors. Suppressing a low growl, he could already feel the oppressive atmosphere pressing down on his shoulders, making sure that he knew his place in the world. He was a slave to this gray world of shadows, fated and cursed to moved along in them so that others may enjoy the light. It made him sick, knowing what his family meant to this town. Knowing that the town worshiped and reviled his family in the same breath. “Let's go.” Making sure that his jacket was zipped, he flipped up his hood and guided the two girls out into the snowy world of Kamakura.

“Oh, this is really pretty.” Was the first words out of Rukia's mouth once they exited the station. It was a small town with areas that retained the more traditional building styles, blanketed in a fresh coat of snow, making everything look innocent and new. Being mid-day, there were a few people about, but not as many as during the summer or the festival season.

Speaking of… “There's a small festival for the New Year's on the fourth. Even if I end up too busy to go, I'm sure that one of the servants would be more than willing to show you.” Ichigo murmured, already seeing preparations being put up here and there. He had no idea what Uncle Nagare had in store, whether he'd be stuck in the house the entire time, or if he would be able to wonder around. “Though if you really want to see something, we need to come either during hanami blossoming season or during the fall. There's a lot of temples around here.”

“And there's that giant Buddha.” Tatsuki interjected, looking around at the small changes that had happened since last time she had come with Ichigo.

Ichigo nodded, making sure his hood stayed up, “Two of them. Well, one is a Buddha and the other one is-”

“Kurosaki-sama!” Well… that didn't last long. Ichigo sighed, turning to face the old shop owner and give a small bow. “It's good to see you back, young master. Will you be staying for long?” Ichigo had to suppress a wry look. Even with attempting to hide under his hood, his distinct Kurosaki hair made him stand out in the sea of black hair.

“Not for long, Oriyama-jii. Just through until next weekend.”

“Oh, good. Make sure to stop by before then. I have some new treats that I want you to try. Or I can send a selection up to the house for you.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” He said with a small bow and a politician's smile. No doubt, now that the shopkeeper had spotted them, by the time that they reached the house, there would be a whole pile of welcome back trinkets, courtesy of the locals. Though… he was sure that Rukia would enjoy some of the sweets sent ahead, just like Tatsuki had in years past. Secretly, he even indulged in some of the local chocolates, and Oriyama-jii knew it.

Thankfully, Rukia stayed quiet, taking in the scenery as the trio slowly made their way down the main thoroughfare, greeting, it seemed, every third or fourth person that crossed their path by name. There were a few, she realized, that even knew Tatsuki on sight. One of whom handed the karate champion a pretty fan emblazoned with a dragon on one side during their little greeting exchange.

“Mamoru-Sama!” Ichigo immediately spun towards the voice, catching a slight girl in a winter kimono that launched herself at the young man. “You're back!”

“Hey, Miya-san. It's 'Ichigo', remember?” He gave her a genuine smile, setting her back onto her feet.

“Mamoru-sama is Mamoru-sama and you grew again!” She pouted, poking Ichigo in the chest with a mittened finger. “You need to stop that!”

“I'm sorry.” He really wasn't, and they both knew it. “Did you come to greet me?” He asked, gently grabbing her hands so that she would stop poking him and started to rub the heat back into them.

Miya shook her head with a smile, but allowed Ichigo to continue doing what he wanted with her hands. “Iie, I was doing some shopping for the house when I spotted you,” she actually held up a bag, half-full of groceries, “I had no clue you were coming today. You didn't call ahead!” Peeking around his bulk, she gave Tatsuki a smile. “Arisawa-san, It's good to see you too. Mamoru-sama didn't tell me that you were coming. Oh, and is that Karin-ojo?” Pulling free from Ichigo, she gave Rukia a bear hug, much to the shorter girl's surprise. “My, how you've grown! Last time I saw you, you were barely tall enough to reach the top of the counter to swipe sweets! Now, where is sweet little Yuzu-ojo”

Tatsuki and Ichigo tried their damnedest to not laugh, but a few chuckles managed to break through. “Miya-san,” Ichigo stepped forward, pulling the girl away from a stunned Rukia. “This is Kuchiki Rukia. A friend of mine.”

“Oh!” Miya gasped, her hands flying to her mouth before she dipped into a low bow to hide her blush, “I am so sorry, Kuchiki-dono! I did not mean to offend you!”

“Miya-san, It's ok.” Ichigo murmured, pulling her away from Rukia as she started to smile, seeing the humor in the situation. The poor girl, she was so enthusiastic greeting Ichigo too. It was obvious by their interactions that they knew each other. “Karin and Yuzu are back home. I didn't bring them this time.”

Affecting a dramatic pout, she looked up at Ichigo. “You never do, Mamoru-sama. I never see them beyond the pictures you send each spring.”

“Eh...” Ichigo looked contrite, “Maybe I'll bring them next time.” But they both knew that he wouldn't. And why.

Either way, she gave a definite nod. “You'd better.” During their conversation, they started walking. Presumably toward the Kurosaki's house, since they were going the same general direction that they had been before.

Reaching the beginning of what looked like a well-used foot path, Ichigo turned to Miya. “Hey, could you take the girls and prepare a bath for them? And dinner for the three of us later in my room?” He asked, absently putting his hand on Rukia's back, intending on nudging her toward the servant. “Since it's getting cold out and all.”

“No way,” Rukia protested, slipping out of Ichigo's reach. “Whatever you're doing, I'm coming with you!”

Sighing reluctantly, Ichigo turned to Tatsuki, who crossed her arms, “Do you even have to ask?”

“Right, ok. Miya-san-”

“I'll warm the baths anyway. And prepare warm dinners while your room is aired out. Are you planning on walking around the whole property for your inspection, Mamoru-sama?”

“Yeah, that's the plan. It might take me a bit longer, since there's snow, so don't expect me for a few hours. But don't be surprised if I send one or both of the girls in early if they get too cold.”

Looking between the three of them, Miya bit her lip, trying to make a decision. “Mamoru-sama, would you like me to bring hot drinks out to you?”

Ichigo gave a sincere smile, touched because of his favorite retainer's thoughtfulness. “No. But thanks anyway. I don't want you trudging out in the snow any more than I want these two to.” He thumbed at both Rukia and Tatsuki at the same time.

“Ok. If my services are no longer required, then...” Miya bowed, trailing off.

“Yeah, go ahead and get inside. You look half-frozen yourself.” Bowing again, this time to Ichigo and the girls in turn, Miya took her heave.

Waiting until Miya was down the path and out of sight, Ichigo immediately knelt and brushed the snow off of a very distinctive looking stone. “Tatsuki?” He asked, holding his hand out in the taller girl's general direction.

“Here.” Pulling one of the arrow-shaped fuda out of the box, she handed it to Ichigo as he gently dug in the dirt at the base of the stone. It took a few moments, but he must have found what he was looking for and pulled up… another arrow-shaped fuda- this one obviously older and dirt-smeared- before plunging the new one into the earth. The change in the air was immediate, but subtle.

Standing up, Ichigo started crashing through the underbrush, intent on finding the next marker. It wasn't an ideal time to change the barrier markers, with the ground being frozen, but it was an auspicious one, being this close to New Years. With so many temples in the area drawing beings of power, spiritual or not, it was essential to renew the wards at least once every other year. Especially since he was the only one in the family he trusted to do so. Uncles Nagare and Iwao just didn't have any power while Aunt Rui (bless her damned soul) was an outsider. Sure, Yuzu was learning things like this at the local temple, but there was no way in hell that he'd bring either of the girls to this damnable place.

“Mamoru?”

“Hmm?” Ichigo hummed, his eyes still scanning for the next anchor stone.

“That girl, she kept calling you Mamoru.” Rukia spoke up, easily following after Ichigo and Tatsuki's trailblazing.

“Yeah.” Ichigo acknowledged, only getting what the question was after a moment or two. “Oh! Yeah. It's my legal name with anything that has to do with Mom's side of the family. It's a bit of a tradition, especially with the men, to only have one kanji names. So, instead of Ichi and Go, it's just… Mamoru. 'Guardian' instead of 'One who Protects'.” He shrugged, finally spotting the stone and moving toward it.

“I still think that's a stupid thing that your family does.” Tatsuki said, handing over the next fuda.

“Yeah.” Ichigo nodded, plunging the fuda into the dirt, pulling up the old one and shredding it. “But It's easy for me to correct it and add the 'ichi' when I forget, at least. _Besides_ ,” He muttered, absently looking out into the forest surrounding the Kurosaki house before starting his hike for the next marker. “ _It's one of the more_ sane _traditions that our family keeps_.”

“What was that, Ichigo?” Rukia asked, honestly enjoying the walk. She didn't get why the half-shinigami kept talking like coming here was the worst doom and gloom to happen to him. The town was quaint, almost reminding her of a mix between Karakura and Seireitei. True there were a lot of hills in the area, but the forests surrounding them were lush and sparkled with fresh snow and frost.

“Nothing, nothing.” He waved absently, freezing a moment when he spotted something. Making his way toward a particularly ragged looking tree, he touched a set of marks. “See this?” He asked, moving out of the way when Tatsuki came up to kneel beside him. “Those didn't come from a normal animal.”

“Kamaitachi, you think?” Tatsuki asked, tracing the spiral cuts that made it nearly all the way around the tree, neatly slicing huge chunks from the bark.

“Yeah, likely. See?” He moved aside, making sure that Rukia could see as well. “How precise these cuts are? They look like the work of a normal sickle, but the spacing is too even. These were probably during the last major storm of the season that came through.” Spreading his hand wide, he followed the four parallel gashes with his fingertips. “Or, y'know,” Ichigo gave Rukia a look when she still didn't look like she was believing them, “Yumi could have passed through here in the past couple of weeks and decided to ruin one of our family's maples with Fuji Kujaku.” That comment was not appreciated and Rukia made the point clear by smacking Ichigo over the head before stomping her way back to the path. Shrugging, Ichigo stood back up and decided to follow. “That's what I get for trying to show you guys something new.”

“Still,” Tatsuki was the last to leave the tree, looking around cautiously. “Will the kamaitachi still be around?” Judging by the width and depth of the marks, it was a low yokai, but getting caught in its' attack would still hurt and be hard to explain to the doctors.

Ichigo shrugged, easily overtaking Rukia to blaze the trail for her. “Maybe. I wouldn't worry too much about it though. They're shy and that one is low powered enough that it's likely not looking for trouble. It's probably already asleep for the winter and we won't find it unless we step on its nest.” Tatsuki knew that already, and Ichigo knew that she knew, but he kept up a running stream of commentary anyway. Here, he would point out another tree, there, a tuft of fur that was an unusual color. Normal signs of habitation in a forest that he made sure to point out the small differences that meant it was yokai-made and not by normal animals.

“The barrier, hn!” Ichigo wiggled out a stubborn fuda, carefully inserting the new one in a crack in the stone side of a cliff, “is actually not that old. If I'm remembering what Mom told me the last time we went out and did this together, My great-grandfather- or was it great-great-grandfather?- was the first spiritualist in the family in generations.” Standing up, Ichigo kept one hand on the cliff face as we walked along the base. “Though, now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if that was when the Quincy blood was introduced into the mix.” Thinking for a moment, Ichigo shrugged and physically moved along. “Don't worry, Rukia, the fuda aren't Quincy-based. Pure Quincy powers wouldn't work on yokai anyway.”

Rukia rolled her eyes, not wasting her breath with a reply. If there was one thing that Ichigo wasn't able to do, it was use any form of Quincy powers. At least, from what she had seen. And if he did actually have the power, he knew better than to use it on hollows.

Continuing on, Ichigo rounded a corner next to the cliff, making sure that the girls still were following safely. “He knew, with the temples in the area, that the area was attractive toward tourists and yokai alike. Well, he couldn't do anything about the tourists,” With that, Ichigo cracked a small smile because of his joke, “but he could do something about the yokai. He found, through a bit of trial and error, that- Surprise!- the Kurosaki main house was the eye of the storm. So, to keep everyone safe, he built the barrier. Not to keep yokai out, but to keep them _in_.”

Giving the boy a furrowed-brow look, she didn't even have to say it, but she did anyway. “Was he crazy? Even if yokai exist, not that I'm saying they do, but if they did exist, why would he trap them on _your own family property_?” She hissed in disbelief.

All he did was give a simple shrug, “To keep the humans safe. It's not like we'd been doing similar things for centuries beforehand anyway.” A note of bitterness snuck into his voice as he turned away, heading straight to the next point in the barrier. “That's why Kamakura keeps the Kurosakis around: we suffer so that they don't have to. Otherwise, we would have been hunted down and killed or ran out of town generations ago.”

“But your mom was in Karakura, not Kamakura, wasn't she?”

“Yeah.” Ichigo nodded and Tatsuki looked intrigued. She hadn't heard this part of the story before. “Mom's the youngest after Iwao-jii and Nagare-sama. Girls… aren't really valued in the family, so as soon as they found out that she was… 'strange', she was sold off to a branch family to eventually marry their son. Turns out,” Ichigo cracked an ironic smile, “Don't tell Ishida this, but apparently Mom was supposed to Marry Ryuuken.”

“Get out!” Tatsuki chuckled, shoving Ichigo in the shoulder. “So you're, what, cousins then?”

“Yeah. Second or third, something like that.”

“Then why the hell isn't he here then?”

Ichigo shrugged, plucking this fuda out from between two roots of a massive oak tree. “Because the main family doesn't like 'strange' things. As far as uncle Nagare knows or cares, taking a walk like this is an odd quirk that reminds me of mom. He has no clue about the barrier. Well, maybe he does, but he refuses to talk about it. Mom learned about it from her mom before she passed and she kept it up. I'm the one that's done the research about it in the old store rooms. You know how it is about old families; they just don't throw anything away.” Ichigo quirked a grin, “So, I actually found the guy's journal from when he was making the barrier and his fuda were supposed to last a good fifty years or more. Mine, probably last a few, but I'd still have to replace them every couple of years. I guess… doing this every year is a quirk of mine that reminds me of mom then.”

“Though...” Ichigo twirled the fuda between his fingers, contemplating it, “I guess I could probably power these things up to the strength that they're supposed to be and make them last at least a good decade, if not- Whose there?” His head snapped up and he gripped the fuda between his fingers like a kunai knife, glowing a bright blue of Ichigo's non-reiyoku-based power. “Show yourself!”

It was silent, then suddenly something small hurtled through the bushes, streaking straight toward Ichigo's head. He ducked and swung, throwing the fuda like a dart.

KreeEE!-Thunk.

Whatever it was, Ichigo managed to pin to the tree through what looked like a leathery wing. Readying himself in case there were more, Ichigo looked around.

Silence. Excluding the muted struggles of the pinned animal.

Breathing, Ichigo dropped his ready stance and looked at the two girls before walking over to whatever he had pinned with the overpowered fuda-arrow. “No such thing as yokai, huh?” He mused to himself, stepping close enough to look at what he had caught. At first glance, it looked like a bat, but the head shape was wrong. And it was a shade of dark blue instead of black. “Rukia, come look at this.” Careful to stay out of its reach, Ichigo inspected the bat closely. Raising his hand to remove the fuda, the bat screeched.

And screeched.

Ichigo quickly drew back his hand, and even then the bat did not immediately stop. Being this close, he caught the full brunt of the attack, enough to make his eyes swim and his ears pop. Oh, and what large _fangs_ you have there, Kumori-san! “Ok fine! Stay pinned there!” Ichigo didn't realize that he had growled, not even able to hear himself think in those moments. Stumbling back, he nearly fell backwards as he suffered from a wave of vertigo, only stopping himself by leaning against another tree. “Dammit.” He muttered, shaking the last affects from his head when the bat finally stopped. Still, he wouldn't go that close to the flying rat again if he could help it. “Tatsuki, could you?”

“Already did it.” She replied, fine since she hadn't been in the immediate range of the attack. Which, of course, Ichigo couldn't hear. Giving her a look when she didn't move, Tatsuki instead mimed putting the fuda under the tree and a thumbs-up, getting a nod in understanding.

“Great.” He was still talking louder than usual. “See, Rukia, that's a kumori yokai. It specializes in using sonics and echolocation. Which you just heard when it got scared. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the sucker had poison either on its' claws or fangs.” When he had been close enough to, he had actually smelled the sickly-sweet of a non-lethal poison emanating from the bat, but he wouldn't point out how he smelled it any time soon. Ever since he had trained with the Visored, he had increased sensitivity with nearly all of his senses, including smell. Between that and having run across several natural poisons before (a complete accident, that he was lucky to survive at the time), he could pick up the scent immediately.

“It...” Rukia stood as close as she dared, inspecting the bat that was pinned at least a foot above her eye level. “Doesn't have a hole. Or a mask fragment.” She still refused to call it a yokai, but… maybe there were types of hollows that didn't have any obvious hollow markers? Like the Arrancar. With quite a few of them, clothing and some creative accessories could easily make them pass as human. But that was just it: they looked human. And this not-hollow was too weak to be powerful enough to have removed its mask. And it wasn't clothed, so where would the hole be hiding?

“No, it doesn't. Because it's not a hollow. Or even close to being one.” Ichigo stood directly behind her, staring at the bat yokai as well. “And just be glad that this one's a weak one. The closer it can imitate a human shape, the more powerful it is. A lot of the time, the most powerful yokai can pass as human and you'd never know if you walked by one on the street. Those are the ones to be frightened of. I guess, saying it that way,” Ichigo mused, “That's about the only way that yokai and hollows are the same. Then again, it's a lot like saying shinigami and humans are the same.”

“But we are?”

“Are we?” Ichigo asked back, making a two-fingered gesture toward the bat, or, more directly, toward the fuda pinning the bat's wing to the tree. “Kumori-san! Next time you try for freedom or attack any of the humans in this territory, I _will_ vaporize you. Kai!” The fuda burst into blue flame, releasing the bat, but leaving a small hole in the membrane and a painful-looking scorch mark the size of a coin around it. “That's your only warning.” Ichigo watched as the bat perched on a branch, gingerly stretching its injured wing as it rapidly healed. The fuda, though, had left its mark permanently etched on its membrane, in the form of a purple star-burst scar. Soon enough, the bat was as healed as it needed to be and took off, heading somewhere hidden on the property to finish healing.

“What do you think that was for?” Tatsuki asked, watching as the bat flew off as well.

Ichigo shrugged, scanning the surrounding forests for any more ambushes. “Who knows. Probably was trying to swoop past me while the barrier point was down and escape.” Humming, Ichigo looked around, trying to remember something. It had been a while since he had visited the building, but it would be a perfect place to take a break for lunch. They had been at this chore for a few hours already, following barely-used deer trails and Ichigo's memory to go from point to point. And if he remembered correctly, it would be nearby, close to the stream and towards the back of the property. It should have been easy to- aha! There it was; the corner of a tiled roof. “This way.” Carefully, Ichigo parted from the trail, making it down a somewhat steep and slippery decline and through a thick copse of bamboo.

“Where are we?” Rukia asked, brushing herself off from a near-fall down the side of the hill, making it through the thicket quicker than Tatsuki.

“Oh… Wow.” The taller girl looked around, making note of the torii gate and the semi-maintained area around the building. The building itself was obviously old and unused, but still serviceable… even if it hadn't been properly maintained in quite a while. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Probably.” Ichigo nodded, making his way over to the building and pushing open one of the solid-wood shoji doors with a bit of effort. “The Yato-no-Kami shrine.” Looking over, he gave Rukia a reassuring grin as he ushered both girls in. “Don't worry, the god here has long since stopped coming by. It's just an old building now. I figured since we're close, we could stop by and warm up while we have lunch.”

“Oh, good, I'm freakin' freezin, starving and we've been hiking for over two hours now!” Tatsuki sat down on the wooden floor, next to the cold Irori fire pit. Indeed, her fingers had long since taken on a bright red tint since she had forgotten her gloves at home.

“Gee, tell me how you really feel about it, Tas.” Ichigo snarked, dropping a small pile of firewood within easy reach before sitting down opposite the fighter. Since it wasn't windy out, he decided to leave the doors at least partially open, so they could have some natural lighting and fresh air while they took their break. “I'm not stopping you. At any time, you can go to the main house and have a warm meal and bath ready for you.”

Giving the boy a look, she started unwrapping the bentou that Yuzu had sent along, “Hell. No. We're almost done anyway.”

Shrugging, he got to work, getting a small fire started with some kindling and creative use of a combustible fuda he had in his pocket. “Eh, more like a third of the way done. Rukia, are you coming in?” He asked, looking up at the shinigami. She was standing by the doorway, looking out at the untouched snow and completely unaffected by the cold. It seemed like her gigai had the same resistance as her natural body did.

“In a minute. It's pretty out here.” Rukia murmured absently, staring around at nothing in particular.

Nodding to himself, Ichigo sat back, feeding small dry branches to the fire until it was big enough to maintain itself without constant prodding. “Did any of us managed to remember to get drinks this time?” He mused, leaning back on his hands and staring at the fish-shaped hook that hung over the fire. Tatsuki, knowing that she hadn't grabbed anything, stared over at Rukia, remembering that she hadn't seen the Shinigami grab anything either- and that said shinigami didn't even have a bag with her in the first place- before turning back to Ichigo and shaking her head. “Right.” Levering himself up, Ichigo stood up and went for the door. He hadn't thought to buy more than a small water bottle with his bentou, which was _definitely_ not enough to split three ways. “I'll be back in a few.”

Brushing past Rukia, he gave her shoulder a brief squeeze. “Hey, I'll be-”

“I heard you the first time.” She cut him off, not bothering to move beyond letting Ichigo pass.

“Ok.” He nodded, not liking the almost-blank expression on her face, but not knowing what to say, “Did you want anything specific?”

“Tea's fine.” Nodding again, Ichigo turned and took one, two steps before using what was left of his fullbring's bringer light ability to speed off down an overgrown path, larger than the deer path they had been using, supposedly leading straight to the main house. It wasn't like she was upset or anything, but things just didn't make sense here. She fingered the origami snowflake that Ichigo had made for her earlier. It was strange, because she felt some ambient power coming off it that definitely felt like him, but every time she focused on it, the power would slip out of her senses like a puddle of oil in water. It was the same way with the strange not-hollow from earlier. She could feel them, vaguely, but if she tried to pinpoint down one unique energy signature, it would just… slip away. Still, there was no such thing as yokai. There couldn't be. They were just strange hollows with… unique abilities. Nothing more than that. A lot of hollows with the same abilities. A lot of weak hollows with the same abilities to cast a strong cloaking shield around themselves. Weak, sub-human animalistic hollows with the ability to be completely non-reactive to her own powers…

Rukia shook her head, refusing to think about it. There had to be a logical explanation here, and she was bound and determined to find out about it, even at the risk of upsetting the local humans that were, apparently, Ichigo's family. Though, if push came to shove, she could always ask Urahara about it. She was sure that the scientist would be thrilled to find a new type of hollow to study. Who knows, it could be something dangerous that they all needed to know about. Maybe this could be the key to the next war, nipping it in the bud before it became another incident like Aizen or Ginju or the Bount.

“Hey, Rukia. No point in waiting until Chi-go gets back. Grab yours before it cools down.” Tatsuki held up one of the layers, still clearly steaming with heat.

Wait, _cool down? It should have been near-frozen by now._ Rukia thought, coming over to inspect the meal. Taking the wooden box, she realized it was, indeed still warm, like it had only been freshly packed. “How…?”

“Is it still warm?” Tatsuki asked through a mouthful of yakisoba, pointing at the side of the box with her chopsticks. “Ichigo carved fuda into the bentou boxes a couple years ago. Don't ask me how it works, I just know that it does. All I know is that there's only a few things that he _can't_ do with paper and ink. As long as the fuda isn't broken somehow, it works.”

Looking closer at the side of the box, Rukia saw a rectangular strip running vertically down the middle of the box with a series of shallow etchings filled with ink. “Ah.” Looking over at Tatsuki's, the girl turned her box so that she could see the carving on that one as well, and the matching triplet on the floor by the Irori with the lid still on and lightly wrapped with the kerchief the bentou had been carried in. Even the kerchief had what she was starting to recognize as a fuda painted on the inside. They were absolutely everywhere on this trip, enough to the point that she was curious why she hadn't seen signs of their use before now, if they were so useful. “Why hasn't he-”

“He tried,” Tatsuki shrugged, “a few times when he was just starting, from what he told me.” After she had beaten the stuffing out of him when he was in one of his low moods. “He's been trying to use them on Isshin-ji ever since I remember, but apparently they don't work on anything with reishi.”

Rukia nodded. It made sense now, that the fuda could only affect kishi, the living world's equivalent of reishi. It was fascinating, really, now that she knew what she was looking for. She had never even imagined that the humans could come up with something like this. Even the Quincy, from what she knew talking to Ishida-san, used reishi particles in the air. She wondered, really, what the difference was and how it affected the two energies differently. _Maybe this is why he had such a difficult time with kido? They were two completely different, but parallel systems of energy manipulation, after all…_

“Maybe.” Tatsuki's answered, making her realize that she had spoken out loud again. “Now eat, already, before I eat it for you.” Giving Tatsuki a look, Rukia finally gave in and ate her portion of the bentou. It would be a sunny day in Hueco Mundo the day that she refused to eat the youngest Kurosaki's cooking.

She was nearly done with her portion by the time Ichigo returned with an extra large thermos and a set of cups carefully wrapped so that they wouldn't chip. “I'm back. And I brought hot tea to share.” Seeing the look that Tatsuki was giving the tea cups, Ichigo shrugged. “The girls insisted. Especially since they don't regularly have plastic cups at the house.” Gently unwrapping each cup, he gave them a cursory wipe to free them of non-existent dust before filling them and handing them out. Old as the cups were, they were made of earthenware and had glazed designs, shaped in one of the more classic cylinder-shaped style. Rukia, who he served first, had a sakura tree and blossoms (It was out of season, he knew, and he had to pull it out of storage, but he thought she would appreciate that particular one the most). Tatsuki's, of course, was a dragon. That one, he had found years ago in a storage room, and had told the servants to use it for her ever since.

His, on the other hand, was a snake. Like the majority of the cups, it had the family mon and some play on the snake theme, whether the word 'hebi', scales, or a snake winding around the cup. It wasn't a favorite of his, but it was the first one that he had grabbed out of the cabinet. He had intentionally chosen to distance any personal feelings for anything on the property, so didn't show any preferences. When he was younger, before his mother passed, and especially after… other things, he had a favorite cup, but he had thrown it against the wall in a fit of frustration and hadn't looked back since. Sitting back, he took a sip, spotting his uneaten portion of Yuzu's bento and grinned. Maybe it would be better to eat something fresh instead of the store bought one. Breaking into the one left, he happened to look over at the doorway. There was… a daruma doll sitting there, one eye blank and the other filled. He could swear that there hadn't been anything there when he walked by earlier. Staring it, he absently took a bite of… ah, Yuzu made yakisoba.

Ah!

He grinned, turning to Tatsuki until she could feel him staring at her. He waited until she locked eyes with him before tilting his head slightly at the daruma. Very carefully, she looked over. After a moment, the daruma… shivered? Looking back at Ichigo with a questioning look, Ichigo gave a subtle nod. “Oh, dear, it looks like I have an extra bentou, what ever should I do with it?” He stated with some pretty bad acting skills, pulling out the convenience store bentou in the process.

“I don't know.” Tatsuki replied, intentionally just as badly, “Maybe you should just throw it away since it'll go bad sitting next to all this _heat_.” Out of the corner of their eye, they saw the daruma doll blink its one eye and give a bigger shiver. Ichigo could swear that he even heard a small whimper coming from that direction.

“What are you two talking about?” Rukia asked, looking between the two humans as if they had lost their mind.

Ignoring the shinigami, Ichigo placed the bentou between him and the door, cracking the lid open so that they could smell the contents. “And, oh no, what am I going to do with this?” He held up a small corked flask of sake as well, gently shaking it back and forth. He was going to offer it to the girls to spike their tea for warmth, but using it as bait was a better idea. He didn't remember packing the flask, so one of the servants must have slipped it into the bag while he was hunting down tea cups earlier. “None of us drink, so I guess I'll just have to _throw this away_ too.” Putting it next to the bentou, he definitely heard a whimper and saw shaking this time. With his far hand, he subtly motioned that they should turn away and Tatsuki immediately complied, bodily turning Rukia a moment later when she didn't do so on her own.

Now, they would wait.

Ducking his head down, he couldn't help a wide grin when, not even a full minute later, he heard a small poof and the sharp tak-tak-tak of claws on the hardwood floor. “What-” Rukia went to turn around, but Tatsuki's hands on her shoulders immediately put a stop to that action. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the taller girl barely shaking her head. They all heard the snuffling and the scrape of the plastic lid being pushed aside. Slowly, Ichigo turned to look. Ah, it was a young one. No wonder its' curiosity had won over its' patience so quickly. The shivering was likely not so much from the cold, but the will to maintain its transformation wavering.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Ichigo reached out a hand and gently put it on the young Tanuki's back. “Hello, little one.” He said softly, not wanting to startle the small creature. “Are you lost?” Irregardless of his caution, the tanuki immediately froze, staring up at Ichigo with fear-stricken black eyes. “See, I'm not going to hurt you.” He said in the same tone, removing his hand and showing both of his palms, empty, of course. “I just want to help you. You got stuck behind the barrier, didn't you.”

Much to Rukia's shock, the Tanuki nodded. Hesitantly, but it did bob its head, like it understood what Ichigo was saying. Smiling, he flipped the lid of the container the rest of the way off, startling the small ball of fur before hunger won out. “See. It's safe food. Probably not the best since I bought it from the convenience store this morning, but food nonetheless.” Slowly, with paws that looked eerily similar to human hands, the tanuki started eating the rice, making a general mess all over the floor and itself. “Here,” Ichigo gave a small laugh, gently prying the food out from under the tanuki youth, much to its consternation if the small growl was any indication. “Why don't you transform and I'll help you eat the rest, how does that sound?” Thinking for a bare moment, the tanuki gave a small squeak that had Rukia's heart melting before transforming into a human girl.

They had realized that the tanuki was young, but not this young. It- she, they could plainly see now- looked about the size of a six-year old. Thankfully, it- she- was bundled up in a bright red winter hanten coat, the number 8 stitched prominently where the family mon went at the nape of her neck. At least she wasn't in thin clothes, or the weather would truly be the death of her. Gently, carefully, Ichigo scooped her up and placed her in his lap, holding her there with the arm holding the bentou. Taking the chopsticks he had used for his own lunch, he scooped up a bit of rice and held it for the tanuki child to take. “Ahh!” Obligingly, the girl opened her mouth and only bit down on the chopsticks once the entire meal.

“There we go.” Ichigo hummed as the tanuki child finished the meal, even allowing him to wipe off some of the meal that she had made a mess of with a napkin. “Now, can you tell me what you're doing here?”

The tanuki blinked, looking up at Ichigo's face and opened her mouth. “Rii.” she squeaked, prompting Rukia to squeal, but not giving a real answer.

“Ah.” He had to admit to himself, while the tanuki not being able to speak the human language yet did pose a small problem, she was still an awfully cute child. “Let's see… are you lost?” The tanuki shook her head, paused, then nodded slowly. “Do you know where you were supposed to go?” Another nod. “Were you going home?” A shake. “leaving home?” nod. “by yourself?” Ichigo asked with a hint of irritation, though he quickly squashed that feeling. Still, another nod. “was there a reason why you left home, Hachi-chan, you look really young.” She nodded, taking a leaf that was tucked in her clothes and passed it from one hand to the other in an exaggerated motion. “You… are being a messenger. For your family?” Two nods this time as the young tanuki played with the leaf in her hands.

Acting on a hunch, based on the '8' mon on her back, Ichigo asked another question. “Do you belong to the Gyoubu clan of Shikoku?” The girl blushed and looked away, but still nodded. “Then… are you on the way to see the Nura clan?” Blinking, the yokai looked up in shock. Taking it as a yes, Ichigo debated for a moment, staring down at the crown of the girl's head. Really, it would only take a few hours, there and back, on the train, to take her the rest of the way. But then he would be asked to stay behind, at least for the night and that would leave the girls here alone, vulnerable to whatever else was currently on the property. No, unfortunately it wasn't an option. Then again, making this young of a tanuki stay on the property for even a day longer would be just as cruel. Seeing as she was by herself and didn't look damaged beyond some minor fatigue and hunger, he judged that she was good enough to continue on her own.

“Then this is what we'll do.” Ichigo absently handed the sake to the tanuki and wasn't it strange to see a young child drinking rice wine like it was water? Though, from her expression, she enjoyed it greatly. “You stay with us and when we get back to the border, I'll help you across. Make sure that you don't cross it again- you know what it feels like now, right?- and go into town and the train station. Transform, if you can, into someone at least in primary school age or older and take the train west. Eventually, it'll take you to Ukiyoe town. I'm sure you can make it from there, ne?” He asked, tapping her on the nose with a finger as a hint. “If you can't do something, I'll be going the same direction in about a week. Come find me again, and I'll be able to help you then. Just don't cross the border again, ok?” The tanuki nodded and Ichigo released her. Not a moment later, the tanuki released her transformation and curled up right next to the fire for a nap.

“You're planning on going _there_ again?” Tatsuki asked, watching Ichigo stretch.

“Yep. Just for a bit to say hi before we go back home.” Ichigo replied easily, making Tatsuki's grin widen in anticipation.

“Good. I owe one of 'em a beating after what you told me they said after last time.” She hit her palm, cracking her knuckles in the process.

“Figured you'd say that.” Resting for a few more minutes in an attempt to soak up as much heat as possible, Ichigo eventually divvied out the last of the lukewarm tea and put the thermos aside. Taking it as her cue, Rukia started cleaning up, but Ichigo waved her away. “Leave it. One of the maids was going to come up here later to do the annual cleaning for new years anyway. Miya said that she'd send some girls up earlier than she was planning and that it was no problem to deal with our garbage.” They could also leave their bags, since they hadn't left them with Miya earlier when they had seen each other. By the time they got to the main house, he was positive that everything would have already been taken care of. Still, they took care to stack the used bentou boxes so that they would be easy to carry out while Ichigo finally banked the fire. Rukia, using a touch of her reiatsu, made sure that the embers were all smothered before they left.

Gently, Ichigo lifted the small Tanuki and tucked her into his jacket pocket, careful not to startle her too badly. She really was tiny, barely big enough to leave her mother, if he had any say about it. Carefully, they picked their way back up the hill, taking a different path that they had gone down in the first place. This one was a bit steeper, yes, but the ground was a bit more stable for them to climb, instead of the loose dirt of the bamboo thicket. “Tatsuki.” Ichigo pointed out where the marker was as he worked to gently wake the napping yokai in his pocket. “Hachi-chan, time to go.” He murmured, his hand wrapping around her entire torso as he pulled the yawning tanuki from his pocket.

“Got it.” Tatsuki held up the old fuda in success and Ichigo nodded, crossing the invisible line. He didn't feel any different, but he made sure to smother the small yokai in his energy while he crossed, just in case. Walking a few meters past the border, he knelt, releasing the Tanuki to sit on the frost-covered ground.

“Now, remember what I said, ok?” He gave the girl a pet with two fingers between her ears, “Behave yourself Hachi-chan, and try not to get into any more trouble, ok?” Stepping back, he watched as she sniffed around, heading in the correct general direction toward Kamakura proper. Positive that he wouldn't have to rescue her again immediately, he turned and rejoined the girls. He found, by an irritating but easily-ignored buzzing on the back of his neck as he crossed the invisible borderline, that Tatsuki had finished his task while he was dealing with the tanuki. Absently patting down the hairs that started to rise at the back of his neck, Ichigo tilted his head back to the path, “Shall we?”

After a warm lunch, fresh tea and a wonderful fire, they were ready to continue on. Plodding on, Ichigo pointed out different features that they could see from various viewpoints around the property, including the back of a giant white statue in the distance. Rukia didn't know who the statue was off the top of her head, but they were going to be here an entire week, she was sure that she would be able to go around and do some tourist-y things at least once during that time. She didn't really feel that much hollow-attracting reishi in the area, so she felt comfortable to playing this week as more of a vacation. Sure, she would make sure that they went on patrol at least once, but, really, this wasn't her area and she was more than sure that the local shinigami had everything under control.

“Rukia.” Ichigo summoned the shorter girl, drawing her out of her thoughts. “Look over there. That's the house.” Ichigo was standing at the top of a cliff, pointing down at… oh. Wow.

That was not just a house, that was a lord's mansion. The complex sprawled out from a central building, with several smaller ones within easy walking distance. There were several gardens that would make her brother jealous and a pond that was artistically natural. Still, with all its beauty, there was a sense of mild neglect to the place, though she couldn't place a single thing that needed repairs. “The house was built in the early 1200's and is on the national register.” Ichigo stated, with little emotion on his voice, just fact. He pointed out the main house and the guest houses, naming the different gardens and pointing out the family cemetery tucked off to one side, nearly under the cover of trees. “And there,” he pointed to a wandering path, “Is where we started. It's a shortcut to and from town that most of us use instead of the front entrance.” He pointed that out too, where there was a high wall and an even bigger front gate.

This, she wasn't completely sure, but she wouldn't be surprised, was bigger than the Kuchiki estate. And with all this land surrounding it that they hadn't even finished hiking all the way around it yet? Ichigo, or his family at least, was rich. And he just shrugged it off like nothing?

“Damn, I keep forgetting how big the place is.” Tatsuki gave a low whistle, her hands firmly planted on her hips while she looked around. Rukia nodded in agreement, Tatsuki having said exactly what she was feeling. “I'm just glad we're here, means we're almost done. Let's go.” Giving a stretch, she picked her way off the clifftop, eager to get done. With the afternoon quickly passing, the sun was quickly on its way down and Ichigo would stay out past dark if that's what it meant to get his self-appointed task done in one day. She didn't know about Ichigo or Rukia-san, but she didn't want to be out here when the majority of the yokai trapped within the barrier woke up for the night.

“Yeah, let's go Rukia.” Pulling one hand out of his pockets, he patted the smaller girl on the shoulder in passing. Staring at the place, he could feel the coldness start to seep into his heart. The real demons weren't the ones outside the walls, but inside them. He closed his eyes and remembered the expressions, the pointed fingers and words, the expectations carried out, both from his own family and what the town expected. Uncle Nagare's resentment over his own family, Aunt Rui's screeching and quickly declining sanity after… after _that_ happened. He remembered seeing the basement under _his_ room, the lock on the trapdoor and then the sickness happening. He was young at the time, unable to understand what was happening and what he was feeling, but he could always feel the taint. At first it was just his uncles, then one day a different type had invaded his cousin.

And then it was the townsfolk’s smiles. They were always a little too eager to cater to his every whim, whether it was an extra piece of chocolate from the shopkeepers, or a lovely hair ribbon to bring back to his sisters. Always, the pleading for him to stay longer, the not-so-subtle hints that he should move to Kamakura since they had a _wonderful_ school that would be more than welcome to accept him. Or, if he didn't want that, private tutors that would cater to his every passing interest. Music? They were sure that they could find a world-renowned composer to teach him. English Literature? A professor all the way from London would come, if he would just say the word. Just as long as he stayed in Kamakura. Only the best for the one remaining heir of the Kurosaki house, even if he wasn't technically a direct descendant.

“It's a beautiful gilded cage, isn't it?” He murmured, only somewhat directing the question toward Rukia. He was just glad that so far in his life, he had been somewhat free to choose his own destiny. Sure, fate had other plans, it seemed, but at least he could see the sky and travel. It was to different worlds, but it was better than what he faced every year he came here. Though, he had a feeling that things would change soon. Uncle Nagare had been fading, in both mind and body, since his son, and later his wife, died. It was only a matter of time before he passed on as well, leaving Ichigo everything.

Rukia gave Ichigo a strange look, taking a few more minutes to look at the sprawling estate below her before following. He had been acting strange the entire trip, at times nearly light-hearted and pointing out things, saying little pieces of trivia, achingly reminding her of Kaien-dono, while at others he would slip into a mood significantly darker. He would scowl at the smallest things, kicking up clods of mud and snow, while his eyes flashed pain and hate in turn. Either way, one way or the other, she needed to get him to talk. And hopefully, Rukia bit her lip in thought, things wouldn't turn out too badly when he did decide to talk. That this was all just a misunderstanding, a family spat, and that it would all blow over in a day or two.

The air though, felt heavy, making her heart ache to be anywhere but here. It was a coldness that didn't come from her reiryoku or the weather, but it was a coldness that Byakuya-nii had back when she had first joined the Kuchiki house. Before Ichigo had come into their lives and, somehow, taught them how to be a family. A coldness that she still felt at times, when she had to interact with some of the more disapproving Kuchiki retainers and elders. That, no matter what she did, she would never be good enough.

Surely, she was reading the atmosphere wrong? It had to be the not-hollows that was affecting the air. That and only some minor exacerbation. How would it be possible to have such intense dislike for your own blood family? Sure, Ishida-kun and Ishida-san had their differences, but they still could have a semi-civil conversation as far as she knew.

At this point, her feet carried her automatically, watching as Ichigo and Tatsuki took turns replacing the spikes around the territory. Sometimes she could feel the fluctuations in the barrier, but it had the same oil-on-water feel that she was starting to realize came from the 'yokai' they had seen. The light, she absently noted, was fading quickly under the trees, especially since at it's brightest it had been a watery winter sky. Slowly, she realized that a tall, old wall had sprung up that they were walking against. Instead of digging fuda into the dirt under rocks and trees, Ichigo instead started tapping on the bricks that were marked with a strange symbol. Digging his nails in, he easily pried the bricks out, revealing a hollow that contained the fuda. These, she noted, were in much better condition than their dirt-covered counterparts, even if they were still replaced.

Reaching the main gate, Ichigo tilted his head toward the building only a handful of meters away. “Seriously, go in and start your baths guys. There's only a few more to go and I'll join you for dinner in like half an hour.” Not to mention, he wanted some time by himself before he had to face his uncle. And dark had fully fallen a few minutes previous. He didn't know about Rukia, but he knew for a fact that Tatsuki was suffering, trying not to trip on every rock and root on their path. It seemed, sometimes, that his vision was meant for the dark. That he hadn't even realized that the sun had gone down until Tatsuki started to trip was a large clue.

Studying Ichigo's expression in the dark, Tatsuki gave a firm nod before cracking a half-smile. “Just don't run away now, got it? Then I'd have to explain where you went to your uncle.” He knew it was a joke, but it was in poor taste and Ichigo grimaced accordingly, giving Tatsuki a light shove toward the front door.

“Remember to tell them that you want your meals taken to my room, ok? And that I want you bunked next to mine. You remember where things are?”

“Yeah, Mom, I got it.” Tatsuki waved, not giving Rukia a choice to follow Ichigo as she hooked her arm in the shorter girl's. “I've been here almost as much as you have.” With the main entrance lit up in the dusk, Tatsuki was able to easily make her way up the main path, where they were welcomed by a row of maids. Apparently, they had been standing by the front gate long enough to be seen, gaining a 'proper' welcome for the two girls.

Watching silently, he made sure that they were well taken care of before continuing on his way. He took extra care to make sure that the fuda in either column next to the main gate were well-placed and powered, seeing as that they took care of the second heaviest workload, the footpath gate being the heaviest. Normally, he would take his time and would be another hour, hour and a half, until he finished on the other side of the 'servant's path', but it was dark and cold out and he had spent enough time walking the estate's barrier already. So, instead of walking, he made sure that he was out of sight of the main house before using Bringer Light to reach each point in only a handful of steps.

* * *

“Ooh, yeah, that was nice.” Tatsuki purred, a fresh mens kimono put on and a towel draped around her neck. The bath house, she was proud to show the Kuchiki, was no small thing. While it wasn't a natural onsen, It was beautifully made to look like a natural indoor pool that could easily fit ten, twenty people comfortably. Even the maids took leave to use the Kurosaki's bath house, if taking startling one of them that was soaking in the bath could be construed that way. After a moment of embarrassed babbling and naked bowing, the girl relaxed enough to settle back into the bath, finding that she was more than welcome to remain, seeing that she had been there first. Helping Rukia scrub her back had been… informative. She had seen scars on the smaller girl's body and found out that there were some that she was proud to show off. Others… not so much.

Rukia nodded along with Tatsuki's sentiment, fiddling with her obi-age, retying the scarf before tucking it into the top of her obi. She had been shocked and surprised at the sheer number of kimono that the maids had pulled out for her to try after her bath. While Tatsuki had been firm to only take a mens kimono (which were easier to wear in her opinion), they had both ended up having a small dress-up session before the maids had allowed them to go. Now, they were just waiting for Ichigo and their dinners to arrive.

Looking around, Rukia couldn't help but be at least slightly depressed. The maid had said that this was Ichigo's room, but… it was sterile. There was not a hint of Ichigo's personality anywhere in the room. The only decoration was a fresh piece of Ikebana flower arrangement featuring some dead branches and a scroll painting of… was that a sunrise over a snowy field, or a sunset over the void? Turning away from the business-like alcove, she tried, in vain, to find something personal, showing that Ichigo had spent time in this room in the past. She even took to peeking into the closet and not a thing. His futon cover was blue, but that was about it.

Looking next door, she could see the stark difference between his room and their guest room, though they were only separated by a thin shoji wall. Already, a pair of comfortably plush futons had been pulled out and bed-warmers tucked between the layers. Kimono stands stood against the back wall, displaying a few other kimono that the maids had thought that they would enjoy, including a small chest of Obi and various accessories. She could tell, even without the girls saying anything, that this was the most excitement that had happened in a long time. The sheer amount of doting, if this kept up, would be smothering. And that was saying something, given that she was the princess of the Kuchiki manor and used to servants hovering around constantly.

Though… this explained why Tatsuki and Ichigo hadn't packed much beyond a pair of small duffle bags for the week. And, though it had honestly slipped her mind, thinking that she could just borrow from Yuzu-chan during the trip, she was glad that the maids were more than willing to supply clothing.

Hearing steady footfalls coming down the hall, Rukia perked up, sliding into the more formal seiza. “Mamoru-sama.” That… was not the voice she was expecting as the footfalls stopped.

“Aa.” Oh, good, a voice she recognized as she heard some slight scrabbling at the outer shoji door's clasp. “Yes, Shira-chan?” He sounded tired, almost resigned.

“Nagare-sama wishes to see you at your convenience.”

“… Have the girls eaten yet?”

“No, Mamoru-sama, we were told to wait until you had returned.”

“Aa,” Ichigo was silent for a moment and the scrabbling at the shoji screen clasp had stopped. “Bring their dinners. I'll eat mine later. I have a feeling I know what Nagare-ji wants to talk about anyway and it might take a while.”

“… Hai, Mamoru-sama.” The heavy footsteps walked away and a moment later, the shoji door was slid open partially. “Excuse me for the intrusion.” Startled, Rukia had thought that the maid had walked away already.

“N-no. That's ok. Did you wish to say something?” Rukia, at the last moment, remembered her noble manners when dealing with servants. Tatsuki, as comfortable as she was leaning against a folded futon and playing on a hand held game controller, let her deal with the maid.

“Hai,” the servant, sitting in a seiza in the doorway, gave a graceful bow, nearly touching her fringe to the tatami floor. “Being Mamoru-sama's guests, I should inform you that Mamoru-sama usually takes his meals in his room. If you should wish to do the same, you are welcome to, but we do have several beautiful dining halls and, if you wish for some company, there is always the kitchens with the rest of us.” The girl gave a small smile, breaking her formality. “Most of us that are not otherwise occupied are also having dinner, if you wish to join us.”

“I'm in.” Tatsuki immediately rolled to her feet, pausing her game and putting it down. It was better than waiting in this sterile room for who knows how long for Ichigo to show his ugly mug again.

Rukia on the other hand, was a little more hesitant. He had intended to join them and… she didn't want him to eat alone, but then she would be eating alone in the strange room. And didn't that bring back lonely flashbacks of her first few week after she was adopted. “Mamoru-sama-”

“His name is Ichigo.” Rukia couldn't stand even the maids speaking about him like he was a distant stranger.

The maid gave her an indulgent look before continuing on. “Mamoru-sama wishes to inform you that he may be yet longer to return to his room and that you should eat before him.”

“It's cool, Rukia. Trust 'em, they know what they're talking about.” Of course, none of them imagined to actually acknowledge that Ichigo had been _right there_ not two minutes earlier. Maybe… maybe it would be a good idea to go with Tatsuki and the maid? She would just leave a note, just in case he did return before they did.

“...Fine. But let me write him a note first, just in case.” Tatsuki nodded and watched at Rukia pulled out this absolutely huge case of markers and a pad of paper before drawing… was that a rabbit? -It didn't look like a rabbit- Doing multiple things before writing a short note and signing her name at the bottom. “There!” Tatsuki slid a look over to the maid, to find that they were both sporting the same somewhat bewildered look as Rukia placed the notebook where Ichigo couldn't miss it.

Standing up, she gestured for the maid to show the way, and she did so with light, nearly inaudible steps that were clearly a learned skill. The first indication that they were getting closer to the kitchens was the sound of crockery shattering and a triumphant yell. “It's mine now!”

“Give it back, you hog!”

“No way in hell, Tori,” The maid slid open the door with only a moment of embarrassed reluctance. “Sriracha for life!”

“I'm… sorry for the mess.” The maid murmured, almost choking on her embarrassment. “We will endeavor to act more _appropriately_ in the future.” Earning a grimace from the two girls.

“Nah, that's cool.” Walking in like she owned the place, Tatsuki snagged the bottle of hot sauce from the girl who was standing on the table, triumphantly holding the bottle out and away from the other maid's reach, much to the amusement of the rest of the room. Giving the maids a shit-eating grin, she cradled it in the crook of her arm. “Mine now. What were we going to smother again?”

“Ah!” the girl on the table squeaked, quickly getting down onto the floor before giving a bow that would make a right angle cry with pride. “Forgive me my rudeness Arisawa-san!”

“Pfft, nothing to forgive.” Tatsuki thumped the bowing girl on the shoulder before turning back to the stove. “So, what's for grub?” Ah… that's what the smash earlier was. A broken crock of Beni Shoga was slowly sliding its way across the counter, dying the wood with its crimson gingery goodness. Too bad, she liked that.

“Ah, the maids were having ramen tonight. But if you wish, you can have some of the same selection that Master Nagare and Mamoru-sama will be having.” Ramen, she said, like it was a simple thing. There was a buffet-style assembly line on the counters and spilling onto the large table in the middle of the room. One of the older maids was manning the oven with a stack of large bowls by her elbow, ready to start boiling and passing out noodles. On the other three burners were the three basic soup bases, simmering away and ready to be ladled over the noodles.

“Forget about what Ichigo's havin', I'm joining you guys!” Tatsuki's mouth started watering as she stepped up to the short line. “Heya, Ame-san! Long time, no see.” The old maid gave the girl a crinkled smile and shook her head, simply putting a serving of noodles into the long-handled strainer and dipping it into the pot of boiling stock.

At the table, a girl that looked no older than twelve was replacing the condiments that had been knocked over in the brief scuffle, giving Rukia a warm smile as she wiped what couldn't be saved of the Beni Shoga away. The table itself looked like that hadn't been the first such incident, as it was covered in everything from stains to scorch marks and cuts. But it was a homey table. The first touch of something comfortable she had seen since she had stepped foot in the house. Stepping forward when she felt a light touch on her upper back, the maid that brought them could finally enter and closed the heavy wooden door behind her, finally shutting out the blowing snow.

While the ramen looked wonderful, Rukia was curious about what the two Kurosakis were going to have, if not ramen, and proceeded to ask. “Well, since Ichi-chan's back, we sent one of the girls out and we managed to get the last of the crab haul for the day.” She had to blink, hadn't the maid, not a handful of minutes ago, insisted on calling Ichigo 'Mamoru-sama'?

At least half the older girls giggled, only to be half-heartedly hushed by a grinning maid that was working on preparing said crabs. Tatsuki even gave a snort of laughter while she was piling her bowl full of various tidbits in the buffet line, even going so far as snagging a crab leg or two from the pile. “He asked for them _once_.” She pronounced, waving the crab leg around for emphasis, “And you guys just won't let him forget about it!” Not that she was complaining. Being on the coast made for getting some great seafood really fresh, but crab was more of a Hokkaido thing, not a Tokyo thing. “Just because he was being a brat about it, didn't mean you had to indulge him.”

“I don't see you complaining about it either, Tatsuki-chan.” The maid grabbed back the unpeeled leg and plopped the contents of another into her ramen bowl as a replacement. “And he could have told us to stop at _any_ time.”

“No he couldn't.” Tatsuki and Rukia spoke at the same time, but Rukia continued, “Yuzu-chan has him too well trained to ever complain about the cook's choice.”

“Yeah, didn't he get nothing but rice and milk for a week that one time?” Tatsuki asked, looking to Rukia to respond.

Not having been there for that particular incident, she shrugged. “Sounds like something that Youzu would do. But more times than not, if he skipped a meal, Yuzu would just serve him the leftovers cold for the next one.” That, she had seen happen more than once, whether it was Ichigo's fault for missing a meal or not. He had had a lot of tepid curry for breakfast when he was doing intense training with the Visored. Seeing that the entirety of the main course for Ichigo's supper seemed to be 'just crab', she decided that Ramen did sound wonderful. Besides, if Tatsuki did it, she could steal some crab for herself as well. While Tatsuki's ramen ended up looking more like a hot pot with noodles on the bottom, Rukia went with the 'less is more' approach. Soup really sounded wonderful after the day that they had. While she had an ice elemental zanpakutou, it didn't mean that she appreciated being out in the cold more that necessary. She had had enough of that to last a lifetime back in Hanging Dog.

Sitting down at the warn table across from Tatsuki, she was immediately bracketed by two of the maids that looked more their age. “Soo… the one on her left started, very casually.

“This is the first time that Mamoru-kun's...” The one on the right continued in the same tone.

“...Brought someone home that wasn't Tatsuki-chan.” Looking back and forth between the two girls, she suddenly felt very small, despite their identical light smiles and kimonos. She noted, absently, that these were identical twins and nothing like _their_ twins.

“Have you kissed him yet?” Broke in a smaller girl, leaning across the table to get into Rukia's face. “I bet Mamoru-sama's a wonderful kisser.” This was the maid that was, like, twelve, and though the honorific of 'sama' was genuine, Rukia felt a twinge of unease thinking about Ichigo kissing a girl younger than his sisters.

“Um… We're just friends.” Rukia sat back, trying to get as far away from the girl as possible without changing seats.

“Sit down Mimi-chan!” The twins spoke at once before the one on the left wiggled her brow, “'Just friends', huh?”

“So, how long have you been 'just friends'?” The right spoke.

“I...” Rukia flushed and squeaked, glad that Karin and Yuzu had never pulled this kind of stunt on her, though she had no doubt that they could. Clearing her throat to gain back what was left of her feigned dignity, She sat up and took a sip of her broth (Oh, wow, yummy!) before answering. “Ichigo helped me with a project two years ago and we've just recently gotten back into contact with each other.” Well, wasn't that the understatement of the century? She could read the same sentiment in Tatsuki's half-masted eyes before she looked down to take a bite of prawn.

A collective groan swept across the table as the girls' dreams were shot down. “Then Tatsuki-chan! Tatsuki-chan must've then-”

“Nope.” Tatsuki was quick on the draw before the more daydreamer girls got anything in their thick heads. “I'm not crazy enough to wrangle that idiot. He's a flake, always skipping work to do other stuff too, so why would I want to date him? Then he'd have to be _my_ responsibility.” Pot. Kettle. Not like Inoue-chan wasn't a flake too, but she was a cute flake. She was more than willing to take responsibility for her.

“Why are you trying to hook up Ichigo so bad?” Rukia had to ask. The girls… it wasn't just the teenagers, but nearly all of them, that seemed almost abnormally involved in wanting to know about Ichigo's love life. Looking around, Rukia noticed something. All of the servants had sat down at the table with their own dinners by this time and… there were no men. Not a single one. “And… are there only girls working here?” She would have expected at least one male. For some of the heavier chores, if nothing else.

Both questions were met with an almost unnatural silence as the maids looked between themselves, trying to figure out who would get the short straw. On the one hand, they were Mamoru-sama's guests and deserved for all their questions to be answered, but on the other, they were Mamoru-sama's guests and had no right sticking their nose into Family Business. “There has not been a male retainer under the lordship of the Kurosaki household since my Seiichiro passed some fifty years ago.” Ame-san finally spoke up for the first time. “It is very rare for any men to be hired. They usually marry into servitude and most girls decide to leave instead of bringing their families in.”

“Some girls come back though.” Miya piped up, giving a little wave. “I'm actually a sixth generation retainer of the Kurosaki house.” The girls nodded, a few of them holding up two or three fingers, indicating that they were legacies as well. “As for trying to 'hook Ichigo-chan up',” she gave a small, tight, smile. “We just want to see him happy. He's always so upset when he comes here. And maybe if he was happier...”

“Maybe he'd stay.” One of the younger girls whispered, getting murmurs of agreement around the table.

Exchanging looks with Tatsuki, they both agreed that that wouldn't happen. Ichigo, as much as he tried for Tatsuki, and especially Rukia, wasn't happy being here. He was starting to act, dare she say, like Byakuya-nii on a bad day. On top of everything else, he also had his shinigami duties. While he could easily open a senkaimon anywhere in the world, he had taken Karakura, not Kamakura, as his protectorate. Living here… just wasn't the life that Ichigo would choose for himself.

“Oh!” one of the girls chirped, startling nearly everyone. “There were those doctors here, when Rui-sama… Before Rui-sama...”

“Yes, those two doctors that were here to treat Rui-sama before she passed.” a middle-aged servant nodded regally before giving in and grinning. “And, my, weren't they treats for the eye, that Watari-sempai and his assistant. _So serious_ that one.” She purred, licking a prawn a few times before slowly sucking it into her mouth. “I wish that he would have taken up my offer. I'm sure we would have had some _fun_ together before he had to leave.” The younger girls tittered in embarrassment while the elders rolled their eyes in fond disdain, easily going back to their meals.

“So, it's just,” she tried to recall Ichigo's uncle's name, but it just slipped her tongue, “Uncle-san here then?”

“Nagare-sama, you mean?” Rukia nodded her head. Yes, that was the name. “Most of the time. Iwao-sama comes by every once in a while though.”

“If you want male servants, they're all with him.” The girl that had been fighting for the Sriracha earlier purred. Her ramen had taken on an unnatural reddish hue, indicating that she had won the hot sauce at some point in the meal.

“Yes, Ino-chan. Thank you for that _wonderful_ commentary.” The maid that had led them to the kitchen pushed up her glasses. “As I was saying, Iwao-sama comes by and harasses poor Nagare-sama for the title whenever he feels the mood for it, but that is only a handful of times a year. So, yes, Nagare-sama is alone in the estate now.”

“He also refuses to take another wife, especially since his first two… sorry.” The girl was stared down until she shut up.

“Now, Kuchiki-dono, was it?” the maid turned to stare down Rukia. “I do hope you have a wonderful time staying with us. But I do have to ask: what are your intentions with our Ichi-chan?”

Now it was Rukia's turn to be uncomfortable, once again. Though, she really wanted to know what happened. Two wives? And both likely dead, if how the maids were acting were any indication. Maybe she could pin down one of the more talkative girls later to get some straight answers.

At that moment, the door opened letting in a strong gust of wind, making the girls sitting closer to the door shriek in surprise. “Ah, sorry.” Ichigo closed the door, taking a look around the room before his eyes settled on Rukia with a smile. “How're the girls treating you?” He asked, unaware of just how relieved she was that the cavalry had arrived.

“Good.” She gave a relieved smile, “Good. Your meeting?”

Ichigo felt his easy look fall like a lead weight had been tied to the corners of his mouth. “Short, but what I expected from Na-ji.” Turning to the bespectacled maid, he turned on his most pathetic look. “May I have my dinner now Shira-nii?”

“Of course you may.” The maid stood up, along with Ame-san. “Would you like us to bring it to you in your room?”

Looking around, he saw that Tatsuki and Rukia looked like they wouldn't be moving any time soon, and it was warm in here, unlike his room. And, if he was truly honest with himself, he didn't feel like being with just his thoughts for company at the moment. “Would it be ok if I just ate here with the rest of you?” And the ramen that everyone else had looked wonderful. Especially some nice warm soup to thaw his frozen bones.

Blinking in shock, it took a moment before Shira nodded and made sure a spot was cleared at the table. “Would you-”

“Ramen. Please.” Ichigo cut off, seeing that the maid was already starting to dish up the delicate crab meat. While it had been nice for them to do when he had a tantrum back when he was five, it was honestly a joke that had run the full gamut back to being funny again. Sure, he would still pile quite a bit into his soup, along with most everything else, but he had a wider palate these days. Ame-san knew what he would say, though, and had already boiled noodles for the boy and handed him a bowl almost before he had finished the word 'please'. “...Thank you Ame-baa-chan.” He managed to bow a bit to the woman that was the closest woman he would get to a grandmother before starting in at the buffet. Some pork belly, soft-boiled eggs, mixed veggies and, of course, the crab later, he sat town at the table. Unfortunately, it was at the far end, away from Tatsuki and Rukia. Ah, well, they survived this long, he could enjoy his soup before rescuing them.

Wrapping his arms around the bowl, he stuck his face into the steam and _purred_. Good food, warm food, wonderful food. Oh, he missed this food. Yuzu's was good, Mom's was wonderful, but this, they must do something to the broth, was the best.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to give you guys a bit of a heads-up, this will not be a 100% Bleach fic. As I've already done here ^, I have started adding 'ocs' and whole new areas to play in. Not... so much. If anyone has _read_ any of the later chapters of a manga called Yami no Matsuei (Descendants of Darkness), you might be recognizing some names. The same thing with Nurarihyon no Mago (Nura: Rise of the Yokai clan) to a lesser extent. Why? Because I'm a shameless crossover queen when it comes to my manga. Also, the fact that Yami no Matsuei, for one reason or another, was stopped in the middle of a really beautiful story arc that pisses me off every time I think about it. This ^ in specific, anything to do with the Kurosaki family, is dedicated to Yami no Matsuei. I read, a long time ago, that in all actuality, Bleach was the brainchild of Tite Kubo after admiring Matsushita Yoko-Sensei's work. So, since one was based off the other, I believe that they exist in the same universe. 
> 
> But then why, Dark, is Nurarihyon no Mago in there too? Because I felt like it needed more yokai. It was going to be a guest scene, but... things, as they usually do, grew. 
> 
> Catch ya next time! Dark


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